We Came, We Saw, We ATE! - A TiW Dining Report - Update 6/29, Ghirardelli

[hurleysweety]

We spent 10 wonderful days in WDW from May 7-17! We ate some wonderful food using our Tables in Wonderland card (TiW) and decided to share our eats and our $$ saved to help out others considering getting one. I can tell you right now that it was a great decision!

The Trip:

It was our third time to WDW together. Our first was in 2008 on our honeymoon where we were on such a budget, we only ate at two TS places, with a majority of our food being eaten in the room, or at McDonalds! Our second trip was in 2010, and our first on the DDP, which was just too much food for us. We were with my in-laws, and four desserts for four people every night was an overindulgence! So TiW to the rescue, 20% off almost all TS and a select CS! We kept track of every $ spent, so stay tuned for all the details.

About the people who ate all this food:

Me- 25 and the least pickiest person that I know. I am quite adventurous in my food choices, but like to stick to my favorites like big entree salads, chicken, gooey rich food (only on vacation), and basically anything I can't quickly make at home! I enjoy an occasional adult beverage every now and then, but its not a must. Food quality is number one for me when reviewing, but atmosphere and service are a close second and third.

DH - 27 and a pretty adventurous eater. He used to be rather picky, but has learned to love a lot of things because of the way I cook - I hate boring food! He loves steak, salmon, and sandwiches the most. He also loves pineapple and coconut flavors. DH is the healthy food motivator in our family-and we do pretty well as we both love to eat healthy, but man does Disney food get in the way of that sometimes!

Here we are walking to our first park on our first day in WDW, which was also DH's birthday!

What did we eat?

Table Service (*Lunch)
The Wave - for DH's birthday
Sci-Fin Dine-in*
ESPN Club
Rose & Crowne*
Tokyo Dining
Kona Cafe*
The Plaza
Beaches and Cream
ESPN Club(again!)
Hollywood Brown Derby

Counter Service(*Lunch, **Breakfast)
Yakatori House*
Columbia Harbor House
Captain Cooks**
Sassagaloua Float Works*
Earl of Sandwich
Sunshine Seasons*
Boardwalk Bakery**
Staring Rolls Cafe*
La Cantina de San Angel*
Boardwalk Bakery* (kids meal only)

Snacks
Boardwalk Bakery
Ghirardelli Soda Fountain (twice!)
Aloha Aisle

 

[mamaboogie]

You both look so happy!

Can't wait to read your reviews!

 

[flightdave82]

I'm in. Can't wait to hear about the trip

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Mmm, you ate at some of my favorites!

 

[hurleysweety]

Yay! Welcome all!

You both look so happy!

Can't wait to read your reviews!

Thanks for reading! We were happy, who isn't happy on Day 1, and DH's birthday!

I'm in. Can't wait to hear about the trip

Thanks for reading! I'm going to write my actual TR after this, and reference the dining review in it.

Mmm, you ate at some of my favorites!

Some of my favorites now too! Thanks for reading!

 

[John's Mom]

Count me in! Can't wait for your reviews.

Kathy

 

[princessallegra]

Sounds awesome! You guys are a cute couple! What do the stars mean next to the restaurant names?

 

[ilovepete]

I'm in! We are doing TIW in October.

 

[Stew_Mouse]

Go Brewers! Can't wait to read your report!

 

[hurleysweety]

Count me in! Can't wait for your reviews.

Kathy

Thanks for joining in!

Sounds awesome! You guys are a cute couple! What do the stars mean next to the restaurant names?

Welcome! And thanks! The stars mean if its not dinner. One * for lunch and two ** for breakfast.

I'm in! We are doing TIW in October.

Yay! Glad to have you. We're going back in October too - for F&W with my in-laws. In fact, that trip was booked before the trip we just went on!

Go Brewers! Can't wait to read your report!

Nice to meet a fellow Brewers fan! My DH actually works for them in spring training. So we've become pretty big fans over the years! Thanks for joining along!

 

[hurleysweety]

I'm not incredibly excited to start our review with a counter service lunch in Epcot, but its the first Disney food we ate, so here you go!

After getting APs, and our TiW card (a 30 min ordeal outside epcot at guest relations in the hot sun, but worth the trouble!), we walked around Epcot. Since it was already so late in the morning, we just headed for World Showcase. Originally I thought we would eat in Mexico, but the menu wasn't appetizing at the time. And finally we ended up at Yakatori House. Remember, this was Day 1, and we're healthy people, so walking here didn't seem as long as it did by Day 10!

Outside the restaurant is a nice pond area, perfect for picture taking as there is a nice bridge too.

The seating for this place is small. It has a handful of tables indoor, each with six seats that are meant to be shared, but usually occupied by three or four people, with remaining seats occupied with backpacks and purses. Here is a picture from allears.net of the place from the outside.

The menu has a variety of items that sounded good to us, ranging from teriyaki bowls, combination bowls, salads, noodle bowls, and even sushi. Here is the meny from outside.

DH chose Teriyaki Salmon - Broiled salmon served with teriyaki sauce, steamed vegetables, and steamed rice $11.99.

DH likes salmon, and for being CS, he liked this too. He wasn't expecting much, and did find it a bit dry. But overall, he seemed to enjoy the meal. I think he could have eaten another whole plate full!

And I went with Teriyaki Chicken - Chicken (dark meat) served with teriyaki sauce, steamed vegetables, and steamed rice $8.99

I'm not a huge fan of dark meat chicken, but I did realize while making a recent recipe that thigh meat is commonly used for authentic Japanese chicken type dishes. The rice was delicious, and the vegetables were cooked well. Obviously, because of the volume of any CS restaurant in WDW, the food is made ahead of time. I was surprised that my rice wasn't hard, and my veggies weren't soggy. The chicken was good, not fried like most places would make it. The sauce was good too, not to thick, not to thin.

At this point in the trip, we were pleased with our decision to eat here. However, as time went on and we realized the value of TiW, we wished we had maybe done something else. I think this place is a bit overpriced for what you get.

Salmon 11.99
Chicken 8.99
+tax
--No TiW discount here
Total = $22.35

 

[Belle's Castle]

Looking forward to your review. We will have TiW for our summer trip this year!

 

[emmysmommy]

I'm excited to read your reviews especially since you used your TIW card. We recently purchased one for our last trip and it was the best deal we could have made. Now to book a return trip since my card is good through 5/12!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[hurleysweety]

Looking forward to your review. We will have TiW for our summer trip this year!

Thanks! TiW is one of the best kept money $$ secrets!

I'm excited to read your reviews especially since you used your TIW card. We recently purchased one for our last trip and it was the best deal we could have made. Now to book a return trip since my card is good through 5/12!

Looking forward to reading more!

Welcome and thanks! I'll have to check out your reviews too. And yay for the card being valid for a whole year!

 

[hurleysweety]

We arrived to the Contemporary Resort about an hour before our ADR. I didn't realize how close it was to MK! It was great finally being able to walk around the resort. The Wave is located on the bottom floor to the right of the check-in counters. When you walk in, there is a bar area that looks really cool. It has a great dim electric blue color, a very relaxing and cool vibe.

We were seated within 5-10 minutes. While we were asked whether we were on the dining plan or not, which I expected, we were also asked if we were staying at a Disney resort and if so, which one. I thought that was weird.

The atmosphere in the restaurant is pretty casual. Its a wide open space, with a wall separating the check-in area/bar/lounge with the actual restaurant.

We started of with an excellent waiter. We were ready to face the inevitable, oh you're young, you won't be a good table, or whatever it is that waiters think about young people and restaurants. But he was very nice, gave some great recommendations on the menu, wished DH a Happy Birthday, and retrieved our water.

Now that I think about it, our table location wasn't the best, we were back by the door to the kitchen, and at a table. (I love booths - I blame my dad :rofl:. He would ask for a booth everywhere we went, even if it meant waiting an extra 20 minutes for it.)

After ordering our delicious waters, and place our food order, we were served a yummy bread basket with salted butter.

The bread was some sort of whole grain, wheat bread. Its made fresh daily, and you could tell - the butter melted on the warm bread as we ate it up very quickly. Being not on the dining plan, we chose to kinda split our meal tonight. We started out with an appetizer of:

Florida Rock Shrimp and Lump Crab Cakes - with cucumber-tomato salsa and spicy remoulade $11.49

These were delicious! I'm not sure they are worth 11.49 for the size, or an appetizer suitable as an entree though. They weren't too fishy, but they were fresh. You could taste both the shrimp and the crab. The sauce served with them was a pretty traditional thousand island type sauce, but with a little twist. The tomato-cucumber salsa was also tasty. My taste buds were ready for the entrees. We gobbled the two medallions up fast!

DH, at the recommendation of our still excellent waiter, ordered the Boneless beef short rib, which came marinated and served with expresso barbeque sauce or something like that. (It was new on the menu, so I don't have the accurate description.)

OMGoodness, this was amazing. We didn't need a knife and the beef melted in your mouth. The expresso sauce was unbelieable.I believe this was DH's most favorite meal of the trip. The potato salad was also delicious and full of flavor. And the slaw was a refreshing crunch to the savory richness of the other items on the plate.

I got the Avocado & Citrus Salad - Made with local greens and orange vinaigrette.

This was very good. It included all my favorite things - avocado, tomato, and egg. I'm not sure if it exactly matches the menu description, but its the closest thing I could find to what I ate. The dressing was not a vinaigrette, it was a creamy garlic ranch. I would have liked croutons or something of the sort. Its not an entree size salad, but with a few bites of DH's plate and the crab cake, I was satisfied.

We were smiling and happy - a great first TS restaurant and a great birthday dinner for DH. We were too stuffed for dessert, so I think we passed, but I don't remember exactly. And then...

A little pixie dust and a surprise for DH! The waiter treated us to Creamy Indulgence, which is not the same as on the menu...weird. Oh well...picture time!

It was, from left to right, Cheesecake with peach topping, Espresso Creme Brulee, and Chocolate Truffle Mousse with edible gold leaf. DH ate all the espresso creme brulee, which is hilarious, because I didn't know how much he loved coffee until this meal! The cheesecake was my favorite, rich and creamy. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! The mousse was my least favorite, but I'm not a big fan in the first place. I think DH ate most of that as well. The dessert is the perfect size after a big meal.

Overall, this was one of our favorite meals. The service, the food, the atmosphere, all wonderful. Of course, we could have been clouded by the Day 1 fairy who seems to make anything bad still wonderful because you're finally there! DH and I still talk about the short rib and can't wait to return in October.

TiW Breakdown:
Beef Short Ribs - $28.49
Avocado House Salad - $7.49
Shrimp & Crab Cakes - $11.49
Chocolate Dessert - Free!
=$47.47
- 9.49 - TiW discount
= $37.98
+ automatic gratuity & tax
=$48.99

Running Total Saved = $9.49

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

I have been going back & forth about returning to The Wave for our upcoming trip. DS and I had a great meal there in '08 and DH has never been. For some reason I just couldn't settle on it until last night ... I finally made an ADR to keep our MK day simpler. Then this morning I saw your review! I don't know why I have been so hesitant. That short rib looks like something DS will love. And I remember everything being so fresh.

Thank you for the reassurance that I made the right decision!

 

[ilovepete]

When we went in October, 2010, the Wave was our 2nd favorite meal of the trip (we had deluxe, so we ate at a lot of restaurants). Then, when we went in February... it was not good at all. I don't know what happened but we even both ordered the same things and there was a huge difference in quality of the food... down to appetizers and desserts and especially entrees. I was really disappointed and haven't wanted to try it again.

 

[sjs314]

Subbing............your first 2 reviews were great

 

[butiflfeet]

Great start! We have TIW too and love the savings we get from it. And we have more freedom to order what we want than on the dining plan.

 

[bam1004]

Subbing...We leave in 8 days and going to some of the same places. Great reviews so far. Can't wait to read more.