Ugh, what were we thinking?! 9 days Deluxe Dining with pics! MY Number 2! 7/21!

[lildamo]

LOVING your reviews so far -- everything's looked amazing! I wish I had longer on my trip to try all these delicious places. Ohwell, more for next time, right?

 

[franandaj]

DH's Tuna plate looked amazing, I had the same dinner & dessert as he did when I was there, but did it in reverse. We split the entree and each got our own one of those heavenly oooozing little chocolate cakes. Yummmm!

That was so good! Your pictures are making me want the DLR F&W Festival to get here faster so I can eat more yummy Disney food!

Keep up the great pictures!

 

[micheleq]

Loving your reviews! And the great SNL quotes

 

[Stefy]

Excellent review, that dessert looked and sounded soooooooooo good!

Few quick questions for you (if you don't mind). How long did you spend in the restaurant before watching Wishes? Also, dress code wise were alot of people dressed up? We are going to try and get an ADR here for our first night and I have the perfect dress I want to wear, but don't want to stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[jamjar84]

Great review of CG. Loving your report.

 

[Leshaface]

Aw thanks.

As you can see, we're DVC members, so we're used to the rooms with bedrooms...living room..kitchen..But since it's just the two of us going and it's such a short trip, we are happy with staying at Pop.

I really enjoyed Pop! Yeah, especially if it's going to be such a short trip, might as well stay at a Value and save some money right?

Yeah, we are definately using the buses. They just feel like part of the 'magic' for me.

Omgosh I know...the magic of standing in yet, another line! LOL!

I will definately take lots of pics!! I don't know about doing a dining TR...I might..who knows. I know I'm going to take pics of the food and stuff and talk about them..so I don't know if I'll just do it in my TR or make a separate dining TR.

Well I'm totally in with any TR you do!! Looking forward to it!

Lesha,

I am suprised and somewhat disappointed. Iced Tea. No wine with such a great dinner?

Ugh, don't remind me! I don't know what I was thinking! Hopefully you won't make the same mistake I did with your upcoming trip!

Cali Grill is a Most Def as illustrated by your food porn.

I too will be ordering sushi for an appy. I am a roll guy as I need the starch to surround my slime with extra wasabi to make it right.

You sound like my DH! He'll eat straight up sashimi if he has to, but he prefers the rice with it too!

When we go to Cali in oh say a week from today. My selections are already picked. They are the Sushi, Oak Seared Filet and the Sweet Celebration to top it off. Your review has made me anticipate this little dinning excursion even more so than I was 15 minutes ago. Thanks.

I've heard this is WONDERFUL! If anything get a pic of this for sure!!!

As far as the pictures of wishes goes. Freezing huh. Did you expect anything different in Jan? I am sure being in the upper atmosphere didnt help the freezing conditions much.

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting it to be THAT cold!!! It was ridiculous! Plus I was hoping for some nice Florida weather in January, since that's where people seem to migrate to to get outta the cold right?? Wrong!!! The week before we left, I guess there were some snow flurries!!! Crazy right?!

The last picture in your Cali review was a face and smile of a very satisfied person who just had a oscar worthy production of culinary genius in her mouth.

ABSOLUTELY! I was so content and satisfied I didn't know what to do with myself, so to show my happiness, I held up two fatty stuffed animals!

So whats next on the Lesha agenda after Cali Grill?

Teppan Edo coming right up!

Beautiful review of California Grille! I love reading reviews of signature restaurants...we don't go to them yet. We're waiting for the kids to get a little older. Right now we are enjoying more of the character meals and non-signatures, and we will enjoy signatures on future trips. We go to WDW every other year so plenty of time to enjoy everything!

Well more to look forward then for you right?! By the time you get around to eating at Sig's, you'll be a pro at all the menus from reading everyones dining TR's!

The only place we're going to that would normally take 2TS credits (although we're not on the dining plan) is the castle...and that's only because my older son was upset that we didn't eat there on our last trip. I never would have thought eating in the castle would be so important to a little boy! So I promised him someday we will go there...so this summer it is!

Aww how cute! Yeah I wouldn't think a little boy would want to do that either! But to him, it's a huge castle that you only read about, and to actually have a meal in a castle would be a dream to anybody right? That will be a lot of fun for him!! Take pics!

On our summer 2012 trip, my little guy will be old enough for the kids' camp so DH and I will choose a fancy place to do a date night one night on that trip! Your reviews are not making it easy to choose!!!! But Cali Grille looks like a definite possibility! Unfortunately they do the Wishes fireworks show at 10PM in the summer, and that's too late for us to eat dinner...can't eat that late at night!

Sorry i'm making it so difficult! I'm telling you, Disney does NOT make it easy for us to pick from such fabulous restaurants! Cali Grill was wonderful and is perfect for a date night...but..so is Citricos and i'm working on that one right now...but don't tell anyone though

LOVING your reviews so far -- everything's looked amazing! I wish I had longer on my trip to try all these delicious places. Ohwell, more for next time, right?

That's exactly how I look at it!!! Oh and thank you by the way!!!

DH's Tuna plate looked amazing, I had the same dinner & dessert as he did when I was there, but did it in reverse. We split the entree and each got our own one of those heavenly oooozing little chocolate cakes. Yummmm!

Isn't that cake scrumptious!? So warm and comforting!!

That was so good! Your pictures are making me want the DLR F&W Festival to get here faster so I can eat more yummy Disney food!

Omgosh I know!!! I want to go to one of the Sweet Sunday's demonstrations since i'm in LOVE with baking and sweets!! We'll see though! The Napa Rose Cooking School with Chef Andrew Sutton looks awesome too!! Not sure if i would drop that kind of cash though!

Keep up the great pictures!

Loving your reviews! And the great SNL quotes

I'm a HUGE fan of SNL!!! Well, from the earlier days that is...not so much this cast that is on currently! Chris Farley and Will Ferrell will forever be my favorites!!

Excellent review, that dessert looked and sounded soooooooooo good!

Few quick questions for you (if you don't mind). How long did you spend in the restaurant before watching Wishes? Also, dress code wise were alot of people dressed up? We are going to try and get an ADR here for our first night and I have the perfect dress I want to wear, but don't want to stick out like a sore thumb.

So our ADR was for 7 and we received the bill at 7:47(according to the receipt), so as soon as dinner was paid for we went right out on to the deck and waited for about 10 minutes for Wishes to start.

I would say about 75% of the guests were actually dressed nicely so a dress would be perfect! I wore a long tunic with leggings and knee high boots and I felt like I was dressed just right! As you can see, DH wore a nice sweater and other men were dressed about the same. At one larger table the guests were a little bit more formal with jackets, but they looked really nice! So I think, anything goes here! You'll definitely blend in if you wear a dress, so no worries! What a way to start your trip!!!

Great review of CG. Loving your report.

Thank you very much!!!

Teppan Edo coming soon!!!

 

[Stefy]

Thanx for that I know it sounds girly but I am excited to dress up (love to dress up when I get the opportunity) and the dress I have in mind I feel is perfect for the evening

Can't wait to read your Teppan Review, we just love this place (and we've only been once)

 

[izzie-wizzie]

Love, Love, Love your food TR!!

I was so excited for your Cali Grill review, as this is my MUST do restaurant for when we next go to WDW, and your pics just made it even more of a must do - i didn't even think that was possible! Great Sushi, Great Desert and Great Fireworks - I can't think of anything better!

 

[BobbleClank]

Can't wait for the Teppen Edo review as we only are hours away from leaving for the world. Teppan along with Le Cellier will be the last 2 places we eat at on our trip.

 

[Leshaface]

Love, Love, Love your food TR!!

I was so excited for your Cali Grill review, as this is my MUST do restaurant for when we next go to WDW, and your pics just made it even more of a must do - i didn't even think that was possible! Great Sushi, Great Desert and Great Fireworks - I can't think of anything better!

This is DEFINITELY a must do from now on!!! LOVED IT!!!

Can't wait for the Teppen Edo review as we only are hours away from leaving for the world. Teppan along with Le Cellier will be the last 2 places we eat at on our trip.

Omgosh how excited are you right now?! I'd be dying right now!!! Teppan Edo right now then!

 

[Leshaface]

Before I start my review, I wanted to show you guys these cute character pics we were taking before lunch!!

If I remember correctly, there’s a really large gate between Canada and the UK, I believe, that hosts a TON of character greets! And we were lucky, because just as they were closing the gate, we were able to sneak in!! There wasn’t many people in this area getting photographs, so it felt like a private character greeting! It was so cool!!

Gepetto asked for a kiss, so I gave him one, then Pinocchio asked for one on his nose, then another on his cheek! It was so funny!! They were fighting for my attention…who can blame them right??!? Totally kidding!!

DH taking a pic with Rafiki from Lion King

Okay, how bout from the front now!

And I just thought this one was cute…it’s Max!!!

Ok, on to Teppan Edo!

I LOVE Japanese food!!! Just like sushi, I could have it everyday as long as I don’t pull a Jeremy Piven…

DH was debating between here and Tokyo Dining, but we’ve never done teppanyaki style dining together before so I knew it would be fun! Plus I love conversing with other people! So I thought it would be kinda cool to dine with others!!

We snagged an ADR for 12pm and we show up about 10 mins before and they hand us our buzzer and sit on the long bench near the hallway leading to the teppanyaki tables. At about 12 exactly, all the waitresses come out, and I’m thinking there’s a fire in the kitchen and they’re all evacuating very calmly and quietly?! But then they all start speaking in unison in Japanese welcoming us to Tokyo Dining/Teppan Edo.

I guess this is performed everyday right at the opening of the restaurant! It was such a great way to start off our meal! So if you can, try to come here for lunch right when they open so you can check this out! So neat!

Everyones buzzers all started going off at the same time and we got our little group together and started walking down the hall to our room!

Here’s our room!!

And our table!

A waitress comes around and gives each person a hot towel to wipe their hands and face with before getting down to the nitty gritty (Nacho Libre) and takes ours appetizer/drink orders. Btw, appetizers included on the dining plan are under the Otsumami, Soup, and Salad portion of the menu. Sushi is extra. So we order two iced green teas(2.95 @ 2), Edamame (Protein baby! 4.50), and the Assorted Tempura plate which had shrimp, chicken breast and seasoned vegetables with a Japanese dipping sauce (7.95)

Yeah, don’t know where the heck my pics are for these!!! SORRY!!! But my edamame was of course awesome, since I LOVE edamame and sometimes keep it handy at the house for a snack and I’m not a huge fan of fried things, but if you love tempura, you’re gonna like this! DH ate it up like there was no tomorrow! Maybe that’s why there’s no pics?! We ate it all too fast!

So for our Entrees, I ordered the Ebi plate – shrimp and includes seasonal vegetables with udon noodles and steamed rice ~23.95
DH ordered the Ueno - chicken breast and large shrimp and includes seasonal vegetables with udon noodles and steamed rice ~24.95

I’ve seen this guy here on the boards, so he felt like a celebrity to me! And I was so excited for the show!

The Onion Steamer!!!

And heres the finished product!

So good! I think it tastes even better knowing he made it right in front of me and I was able to see what he was doing the entire time!
The rice was good and sticky, the shrimp was cooked to perfection and the veggies were wonderful! Love squash! Could have had some more noodles, but no worries! The dipping sauces were terrific! The top one was for the shrimp and the middle one was for the veggies I believe. The white one was for chicken, which I didn’t have, but tasted yummy with DH’s chicken! A very simple, basic meal turned out incredibly good and filling!

The Desserts:

We felt like cows at this point…we were the only ones at the table with Deluxe Dining, and this is the first time in how long, DH decides to order a dessert! D’oh!!! Lol! Oh well...fat cows we are then cuz I’m getting dessert too!

I’m seriously such a disappointment yet again!!! No pics! Well I can tell you what we had though…I had the Chocolate Ginger Cake, which was bomb!!! (5.95) A very interesting combo which worked flawlessly together! DH had the Green Tea Pudding (6.50) It looks like flan but tastes better than flan…I DESPISE flan! Blah!

For those using the Deluxe Dining Plan, they take 1 credit per person because it’s a Table service restaurant, so it’s 2 credits total.

For those paying OOP, here was our total for 2 iced teas, 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts, with tax = $84.89

A little expensive for lunch, but worth it I say. Our table was somewhat fun, the chef was entertaining, the food was great, what more could you ask for? Now that Teppan Edo has been scratched off our list, we’re gonna check out Tokyo Dining next time.

Sayonara!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Great update. My son loves eating edemame too. He loves Japanese food and always orders edemame. When we ate at CP for lunch they have the edemame at the salad bar.

 

[tinkgurl]

Awww Rafiki! My little guy always thinks it's hilarious that he has a blue butt!

So neat you got to see the "opening" show for the restaurant! I've never been there, so thanks for all the pics! It definately looks like somewhere I'd like to try!

 

[Stefy]

Love the chacter pics, esp the Rafiki ones Just trying to work out where that spot is.

Love your review of Teppan, its such an awesome restaurant right? What were the people like that you dined with?

 

[franandaj]

Edamame (Protein baby! 4.50), and the Assorted Tempura plate which had shrimp, chicken breast and seasoned vegetables with a Japanese dipping sauce (7.95)

Yeah, don’t know where the heck my pics are for these!!! SORRY!!! But my edamame was of course awesome, since I LOVE edamame and sometimes keep it handy at the house for a snack and I’m not a huge fan of fried things, but if you love tempura, you’re gonna like this! DH ate it up like there was no tomorrow! Maybe that’s why there’s no pics?! We ate it all too fast!

I know what you mean, I love the Edamame! When we went there in Jan, DM, DF and me we got two orders! I got the tempura app and ate the shrimp before I remembered to take the pic of what was left. Did your guy make a Mickey head on the steaming onion?

Yummmmm! I love that place!

 

[Zeebs]

I think you and I would get on great, I love sushi (my favourite meal was at California Grill and had the best sushi ever there).

Pre kids, back in New Zealand we use to go to Teppan place quite a bit it was soooo good, haven't tried it in England as while the kids love rice and stuff I am not sure I could trust them just yet not to put their hand on the hot plate.

We have taken them to the sushi train before and they loved it.

We went to a place in Lake Tahoe called Fire and Ice it has a massive bbq plate in the middle and they cooked your food for you. We all loved that. (fresh vege, we were getting a bit sick of fast food by that point) We were doing a month long road trip from LA to Vancouver.

Are places like this Fire and Ice common in the USA?

Anyhoo, I have put Teppan Edo on our list if and when we make it back to WDW.

Kirsten

 

[drmommy]

Again, I've had to do some catching up on your reviews! As you can tell by my login name... I probably should be seeing patients instead of surfing the boards!

Well Chefs de France looks fabuloso! I have an iPhone app with WDW Dining Menus and it doesn't show the ham and cheese sandwich. But it looks great! I'm looking forward to our first ADR there this coming trip. That cream puff shot...divine! Really good quality shot!

Another great picture is of the CR...our fav resort! And we LOVE CG! It's a must on every trip! DH loves sushi/sashimi...so much that I call him 'Chino Mexicano!' (we're hispanic ) Oh, and the baby's definitely gonna need his own round Pooh bear!

I had no idea that Rafiki had an anatomically correct booty!

Who the he__ is Max?

Teppan Edo is another one of our favs, mostly because it's entertaining for DS6. That last pic of the 'celebrity' was spectacular!!...with the smoke and all! Sell it to Disney!!

 

[mouselovenfamily]

Oh, and the baby's definitely gonna need his own round Pooh bear!

Who the he__ is Max?

Baby...what baby? Did I miss something?????

Max is Goofys son of course

 

[drmommy]

Baby...what baby? Did I miss something?????

Max is Goofys son of course

Sorry, misspoke...I meant my baby. But they will make beautiful babies and great parents one day!

Oooohhh, Goofy's son! Got it...I see the resemblance.

 

[mouselovenfamily]

Sorry, misspoke...I meant my baby. But they will make beautiful babies and great parents one day!

Oooohhh, Goofy's son! Got it...I see the resemblance.

Drmommy surfing the boards...your my kind of DR!!!!