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

[Symans3honeybees]

MY PICTURES ARE VISIBLE NOW!!! ALL OF THEM!!! I never thought this day would come, where I can view every single pic that I uploaded! Ah-mazing!!! lol! Alright, now that Photobucket is back on my friends list, let's get on to CITRICOS!!!

You almost have me in tears waiting to read your review. The wait was "agonizing"

 

[Leshaface]

You almost have me in tears waiting to read your review. The wait was "agonizing"

Wasn't that the worst waiting you've ever had to endure???!! LOL! Thanks for sticking around!!

 

[BobbleClank]

So I am back from my eating vacation at Disney. I say eating because the Deluxe Dining plan is a fat man's dream on the glutny roller coaster. I didn't do dining report because it was to much effort to remember to take pictures of every plate. I can however say that I wish I would have just made reservations at Narcoosees and Cali Grille only. All other resturants we went to failed to match the expertise shown at these two establishments.

My family and I ran up a total bill of $401.00 at Cali and 379.00 at Narcoosees. Thank god for the dining plan. Only thing that sucked was paying the 18%-20% tip at each resturant. Most of our expenses on our trip was due to tipping

All in all we had a great time once the teenagers decided they weren't to cool for Disney World.

Again, I would not hesitate to recommend Cali Grille to anyone. The absolute best Sushi I have ever had. Our waiters name was Mike and he was great. Seeing wishes from the observation deck was an experience everyone should partake in it really does give you an exceptional viewing angle of the show.

If we ever go back to Disney World we will leave to two teenager deadbeats at home (who better be in College when we go back)and once again sign up for the Deluxe Plan. We have already started looking into a Christmas time trip to the World in a couple of years.

Lesha, Citricos looks fantastic, we almost booked there. The problem we had was making our breakfast ADR's as we were way to tired to get up early. The first Sunday we had ADR's at Crystal Palace 9:15 am, and the dinner at Narcoosee's we made both as we opened and closed the Magic Kingdom open from 9a to 3a with EMH. Seeing Magic Kingdom at 3:30 in morning is a surreal experience. Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey's is the only two breakfast ressie we made it too. Yes I cancelled the rest. If I had to do it all over again I would bypass breakfast all together and just book signature dining and dinner shows to use up my credits as I am spoiled now and wouldn't even consider sitting down at a non signature resturant. All that food made me feel and I didn't want to eat for atleast 2 days after our trip.

 

[Stefy]

Wow Citricos looked awesome and that Angel cake, yum!

I love your firework pics, it looks perfect with the clock in foreground

 

[Zeebs]

Were you just blissfully unaware of how foie gras was made? I love the stuff to, I just chose to forget how it is made.

Can't say have ever had veal though.

Must say though I stopped eating McDonalds ice cream when I heard it had chicken fat in it. (not sure if this is still right but I haven't been able to go back to eating it again)

Kirsten

 

[DisneyBelle27]

Great new review! Don't worry about the delay, our internet has been out and we just got it back today so I couldn't have read this thread anyway!

 

[TigerKat]

Two visits ago Citrico's became our favorite of all the signature restaurants. Glad y'all enjoyed it as much as we did!

 

[Leshaface]

So I am back from my eating vacation at Disney. I say eating because the Deluxe Dining plan is a fat man's dream on the glutny roller coaster. I didn't do dining report because it was to much effort to remember to take pictures of every plate. I can however say that I wish I would have just made reservations at Narcoosees and Cali Grille only. All other resturants we went to failed to match the expertise shown at these two establishments.

Bobble!!!! Welcome Back!!!

Isn't the Deluxe Dining plan insane?! I mean, it's TONS of food!!!

My family and I ran up a total bill of $401.00 at Cali and 379.00 at Narcoosees. Thank god for the dining plan. Only thing that sucked was paying the 18%-20% tip at each resturant. Most of our expenses on our trip was due to tipping


You must have had lots of wine at Cali and Narcoossee's to get to that amount!!! And, yes, tipping at EVERY meal was horrendous, and that's pretty much where a lot of money went to as well..

All in all we had a great time once the teenagers decided they weren't to cool for Disney World.

Again, I would not hesitate to recommend Cali Grille to anyone. The absolute best Sushi I have ever had. Our waiters name was Mike and he was great. Seeing wishes from the observation deck was an experience everyone should partake in it really does give you an exceptional viewing angle of the show.


The sushi was fantastic there!!! Just had sushi last night, and wished I was having it from Cali Grill...sigh..

Seriously the observation deck is totally awesome! I'm doing that again next time for sure no matter how cold it is!! Haha!


If we ever go back to Disney World we will leave to two teenager deadbeats at home (who better be in College when we go back)and once again sign up for the Deluxe Plan. We have already started looking into a Christmas time trip to the World in a couple of years.


I would to go to WDW during Christmas! It's beautiful here at Disneyland, couldn't IMAGINE how it looks at WDW!! Lucky!! Yeah, we're planning on January 2012, so same time as this last time...it just seems sooo far away when you write it down like that! Deluxe dining again eh? I'm not sure about that for us...we're just gonna have to see...although I loved that we had a signature meal everynight of our trip (besides Yachtsman ) and for the money it was well worth it I think! So we'll have to see..

Lesha, Citricos looks fantastic, we almost booked there. The problem we had was making our breakfast ADR's as we were way to tired to get up early. The first Sunday we had ADR's at Crystal Palace 9:15 am, and the dinner at Narcoosee's we made both as we opened and closed the Magic Kingdom open from 9a to 3a with EMH. Seeing Magic Kingdom at 3:30 in morning is a surreal experience. Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey's is the only two breakfast ressie we made it too. Yes I cancelled the rest. If I had to do it all over again I would bypass breakfast all together and just book signature dining and dinner shows to use up my credits as I am spoiled now and wouldn't even consider sitting down at a non signature resturant. All that food made me feel and I didn't want to eat for atleast 2 days after our trip.


Yeah, it's like who really wants to get up at 7am for breakfast during your vacation right? I def. want to try Crystal Palace for breakfast one day...how was it? And for some reason I forgot about the dinner shows...I'll have to look into that for next time as well!


Omgosh, you stayed at the MK that long!!! How AWESOME!!! Was it really dead from 1am to 3am?? I want to see some pics from your fabo trip if you wouldn't care to share!!!

Wow Citricos looked awesome and that Angel cake, yum!

I love your firework pics, it looks perfect with the clock in foreground

Yes, hubby did a great job with those pics! I'll thank him later Haha totally joking!

Were you just blissfully unaware of how foie gras was made? I love the stuff to, I just chose to forget how it is made.


I really was!!! All I knew previously, was that it was duck liver and that's it! So to actually hear about how it was done, was kinda revolting!!!...at the same time it's sooooo good! :lmao:

Can't say have ever had veal though.

I've had it before a while ago, and it's very rich tasting...


Must say though I stopped eating McDonalds ice cream when I heard it had chicken fat in it. (not sure if this is still right but I haven't been able to go back to eating it again)


No way!!! DI-SGUSTING! I rarely eat at McDonald's so this won't be a problem for me, but ewww...they're really trying to use all their materials up aren't they?!?!

Kirsten

Great new review! Don't worry about the delay, our internet has been out and we just got it back today so I couldn't have read this thread anyway!

Yay for getting your internet back!!! I know how much it sucks to be without it...it's like, well how am I supposed to contact my mom or my husband now? Do I really have to walk to the next room just to talk to them???

Two visits ago Citrico's became our favorite of all the signature restaurants. Glad y'all enjoyed it as much as we did!

Ugh, I have a huge decision to make at the end of my report...How am I gonna decide which is my first fav, 2nd, third, etc...I mean, how can one put a number on any of the GLORIOUS Sig restaurants?! This will be the hardest part of my review!!!

 

[jreeves628]

I'm loving the reviews!

I'm trying to decide on a nice romantic restaurant for me and dh without the kids. Which would you saw is your #1 restaurant?

 

[bangzoom6877]

Leshaface, you sure are making it difficult for me to figure out which signature restaurant I want to try first!! Of course that will not be until July 2012, when we can have the kids stay in the kids' club for a few hours and have a romantic dinner (my little one is too young for the kids' club for this upcoming trip). Who knows...maybe by then we will be able to take the boys to a signature restaurant or 2...I think they would be able to handle it right now but there are so many other places we want to try first, plus we have several characters meals booked for them. Cali Grill looks awesome, as does Narcoossee's, and now, Citrico's! I guess we will just have to try all of them eventually!

I'm loving your reviews! I like talkative waiters and waitresses too! In fact, whenever we go on a cruise we love to talk to the waiter about their hometown, their families, interests, etc. That's one thing we love about having the same waiter for a week on a cruise ship!

I think the wait for the photos was well worth it! And Happy belated 4th Anniversary to you guys!!

 

[Angelrose]

I'm loving your reviews, but for some reason, I still can't see your pictures.

 

[Leshaface]

I'm loving the reviews!

I'm trying to decide on a nice romantic restaurant for me and dh without the kids. Which would you saw is your #1 restaurant?

Ohhh, it's so hard to say! The top three for romantic would be Narcoossee's, Citricos, and Jiko...I say these because I'm thinking of the quietness and space between all the tables and the lighting is very subtle in these restaurants...but you really won't be disappointed in the food and flavors and Flying Fish, Cali Grill, and Artist Point....wow I wasn't much help was I???

Leshaface, you sure are making it difficult for me to figure out which signature restaurant I want to try first!! Of course that will not be until July 2012, when we can have the kids stay in the kids' club for a few hours and have a romantic dinner (my little one is too young for the kids' club for this upcoming trip). Who knows...maybe by then we will be able to take the boys to a signature restaurant or 2...I think they would be able to handle it right now but there are so many other places we want to try first, plus we have several characters meals booked for them. Cali Grill looks awesome, as does Narcoossee's, and now, Citrico's! I guess we will just have to try all of them eventually!

I'm loving your reviews! I like talkative waiters and waitresses too! In fact, whenever we go on a cruise we love to talk to the waiter about their hometown, their families, interests, etc. That's one thing we love about having the same waiter for a week on a cruise ship!

I think the wait for the photos was well worth it! And Happy belated 4th Anniversary to you guys!!

Picking out a Signature Restaurant is probably the HARDEST decision one will have to make when vacationing with Disney!!! It's so ridiculous that they have, what, 8 or so, Sig restaurants to chooose from...can you imagine if they keep adding more Sig's into the line-up!?

I'm just a social butterfly...I think it's from working at Starbucks for 7 years that turned me into one!!! You know us baristas...always smiling and always talking!...well some of us I should say!

Thank you! Actually our anniversary isn't until July, but we wanted to celebrate it "Disney Style" and DID NOT want to go to Florida in July...the first time we went to WDW was in June, and I could barely breath in the humidity...it was disgusting how heavy the air felt! So we decided to go in January when the weather is better...of course, I'm still going to have to deal with the East Coast humidity when I fly out to PA in June...ugh...well at least Northern East Coast weather isn't as bad as Southern...at least that's how I felt...is that true since youre up in NY?

I'm loving your reviews, but for some reason, I still can't see your pictures.

Really??? You couldn't see any pics from Citricos? I went back through to some reviews, including Citricos and I can see all of them...

 

[bangzoom6877]

Picking out a Signature Restaurant is probably the HARDEST decision one will have to make when vacationing with Disney!!! It's so ridiculous that they have, what, 8 or so, Sig restaurants to chooose from...can you imagine if they keep adding more Sig's into the line-up!?

I'm just a social butterfly...I think it's from working at Starbucks for 7 years that turned me into one!!! You know us baristas...always smiling and always talking!...well some of us I should say!

Thank you! Actually our anniversary isn't until July, but we wanted to celebrate it "Disney Style" and DID NOT want to go to Florida in July...the first time we went to WDW was in June, and I could barely breath in the humidity...it was disgusting how heavy the air felt! So we decided to go in January when the weather is better...of course, I'm still going to have to deal with the East Coast humidity when I fly out to PA in June...ugh...well at least Northern East Coast weather isn't as bad as Southern...at least that's how I felt...is that true since youre up in NY?

It gets humid here in NY over the summer. The further south you go on the east coast, I feel it gets more humid. Florida has a sub-tropical climate so I think that's why you feel it more over there. We always go to Disney in July because we plan to go for 10 nights every other year, and DH and I are teachers so the only time we have time to drive down there and do that is in the summer. I have been to Disney in August a couple of times, it is extremely hot and humid. What we do is go to the parks first thing in the morning when it is between 75 and 80 degrees outside. That is bearable. Then in the early afternoon, when it gets to the hottest point of the day, we go back to the hotel and take a break for a couple of hours. The kids nap, we maybe take a short nap and then take showers before heading out to dinner, which sometimes is in a park or sometimes at a resort. FLorida also has thunderstorms each afternoon, so it's good to go to the parks early. It works out very nicely. I don't have a problem going to Disney in the summer.

Getting back to NYC climate, we have some crazy heat waves in the summer when the humidity is 100% and the temp. is in the 90s. Those are the days we stay inside or do some other indoor activity. Last year in NY we had a cooler summer, not too many 90+ days. Upstate NY is beautiful in the summer, and so are the New England states.

 

[Camping Griswalds]

I live in Ocean City MD, right on the coast. I feel we have the same suffering humidity as FL, the difference is the intense sun. Either way, we come outside in August and Sept and instantly sweat. Same in FL, however the sun is intense there. I have been to Disney in August and Sept. I think Sept is worse. That seems to me like the hotest month. Crowds are non existent though! Either way, its all about getting up early and getting out by noon, one at the latest! Then back in the evenings after 5.

 

[Leshaface]

It gets humid here in NY over the summer. The further south you go on the east coast, I feel it gets more humid. Florida has a sub-tropical climate so I think that's why you feel it more over there. We always go to Disney in July because we plan to go for 10 nights every other year, and DH and I are teachers so the only time we have time to drive down there and do that is in the summer. I have been to Disney in August a couple of times, it is extremely hot and humid. What we do is go to the parks first thing in the morning when it is between 75 and 80 degrees outside. That is bearable. Then in the early afternoon, when it gets to the hottest point of the day, we go back to the hotel and take a break for a couple of hours. The kids nap, we maybe take a short nap and then take showers before heading out to dinner, which sometimes is in a park or sometimes at a resort. FLorida also has thunderstorms each afternoon, so it's good to go to the parks early. It works out very nicely. I don't have a problem going to Disney in the summer.

Getting back to NYC climate, we have some crazy heat waves in the summer when the humidity is 100% and the temp. is in the 90s. Those are the days we stay inside or do some other indoor activity. Last year in NY we had a cooler summer, not too many 90+ days. Upstate NY is beautiful in the summer, and so are the New England states.

Oh teachers!!! How wonderful!! Elementary, HS?? DH just got his Masters in Sports Administration along with his credential so he's hoping to be a PE teacher in August and eventually become an Athletic Director!...unfortunately, teaching jobs are dropping like flys over here, so we're hoping and praying for something in August!!!

You East Coasters handle the humidity very well...we were miserable, even with our three showers a day!! Lol!! I remember one day we were at Epcot and we were in Mousegears trying to get some fresh air, and we were amping ourselves up saying, "we can do this, we can do this..we CAN and WILL make it to Test Track!"

We get heat...summers here can get up to 110-115 in July and consistently be like that from week to week...so going to Disneyland isn't a problem for us in Summer. But it looks like if DH does get a teaching job in August, we may not have time for January trips and might have to move our Disney trips to summer... uggghhh, I'm getting hot just thinking about it...

I live in Ocean City MD, right on the coast. I feel we have the same suffering humidity as FL, the difference is the intense sun. Either way, we come outside in August and Sept and instantly sweat. Same in FL, however the sun is intense there. I have been to Disney in August and Sept. I think Sept is worse. That seems to me like the hotest month. Crowds are non existent though! Either way, its all about getting up early and getting out by noon, one at the latest! Then back in the evenings after 5.

I've heard that the sun is closer in Florida??? Not sure how true this is but I sure can agree with it either way! i don't know how you folks live in extreme weather....first, sickeningly hot weather, then gnarly snowstorms...goodness gracious! I should be thankful for Cali weather!

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

I am loving your food report. Can't wait to read the final ADRs! I am going to recommend you on our July thread - if you don't mind of course!

[I am a teacher from PA; DH and I will celebrate our 14th anniversary in July in WDW! ]

Our summers vary so it could be a beautiful June or a ridiculous June... This past summer or the one before (summers run together) schools had to dismiss early several days because of the heat. (PA rocks- early dismissal for summer/ early dismissal for heat. ) So, the humidity might not be better than Florida, but like the MD poster said, the sun is less intense.

 

[sjs314]

You are killing me with all the lucious food pics, the pic of the school bread in Norway had me licking my lips. I so can not wait for November to come and the Food and Wine Festival, first time ever going to it

 

[loveysbydesign]

Just wanted to pop in and say I am loving your review! We have not eaten at any of these places yet and I am trying to find the perfect place for dh and I to eat without the kids when we go in Nov.(my in-laws are coming along and can watch them so we can go eat out 1 evening) I love the pix and reviews!
I was just wondering which place has the best ambiance and food!

 

[bangzoom6877]

Oh teachers!!! How wonderful!! Elementary, HS?? DH just got his Masters in Sports Administration along with his credential so he's hoping to be a PE teacher in August and eventually become an Athletic Director!...unfortunately, teaching jobs are dropping like flys over here, so we're hoping and praying for something in August!!!

You East Coasters handle the humidity very well...we were miserable, even with our three showers a day!! Lol!! I remember one day we were at Epcot and we were in Mousegears trying to get some fresh air, and we were amping ourselves up saying, "we can do this, we can do this..we CAN and WILL make it to Test Track!"

We get heat...summers here can get up to 110-115 in July and consistently be like that from week to week...so going to Disneyland isn't a problem for us in Summer. But it looks like if DH does get a teaching job in August, we may not have time for January trips and might have to move our Disney trips to summer... uggghhh, I'm getting hot just thinking about it...

I teach high school Italian & Spanish. I teach 4 Italian classes and 1 Spanish class. Sometimes I teach 5 Italian classes and no Spanish. I have both licenses though. DH teaches high school Health Education. He is also a dean and works much more with safety and security in the school than he does in the classroom. He only teaches 2 classes but he is very busy all day. We teach at different high schools, but not too far away from each other. He drives me to work then goes to work from there, then he picks me up on the way home and we get the boys at school. The school where I work is only 10 minutes from our house and his school is about 15 minutes away from mine if there is a little traffic or if you get stuck at a few traffic lights on the way. Otherwise the ride can be done in about 10 minutes.

I hope your husband gets a teaching job! It's such a wonderful thing to do and I find it very rewarding. It is stressful, like any other career is, but I really love what I do and I love my school.

If you start going to WDW over the summer, we may be there at the same time in 2012! We go every other year, so that will be our next trip after this upcoming one.

I know it gets so crowded in the summer, but like I said, we like to spend 10 nights there, plus I think during Christmas break or Easter break it would be much more crowded than in the middle of July.

One thing DH and I always talk about is the fact that our DVC membership will last until we turn 65...which is 10 years after we retire! I think the first thing we will do when we retire is go to WDW during the off-season when it is less crowded! Well that and a fall foliage cruise which is always just after the schoolyear starts! It's funny, a lot of people tell me that we won't want to go to Disney without the kids once they are grown, but I disagree. I know plenty of adults who love it just as much, if not more, than the children do! DH and I agreed that Disney is the only place we could go over and over and not get bored! That's why we bought the DVC membership. We never thought we would want to own a timeshare but I like the way the DVC works and having extra space is always a plus!

 

[Marshay]

Hi! I just joined your TR and love, love, love it!!!

I'm all caught up now and starving for some good food.

Thanks for your report!