Udate on the personal chef experience:
(this is copied from another post I made on another board):
I can't say enough about the personal chef - gourmet dinner - my friend said it was the best meal she had at Disney (and we ate at some really nice places too - Chefs de France and Brown Derby).
I had brought a table cloth and nice dishes and candles to make it more special but it would have been ok just to use the villa dishes (candles ARE a nice touch though).
Our menu consisted of:
Tray of assorted appetizers
Seasonal Salad
Warm Sea Scallops with Apricot Horseradish Cream
Southern Fried Chicken
Roasted Garlic and Wild Mushroom Risotto
Southern Green Beans
Raspberry Creme Brulee for dessert
We also had wine and coffee with dinner (I brought the wine)
The menu I chose was "basic, wholesome" food as opposed to Froo Froo food because I always feel like I'm starving after eating a week of that restaurant stuff at Disney. For me, this menu was perfect, but Brenda also offered more "gourmet" items like Roast Pork Loin with Cabernet/Rosemary Sauce, Plantain Crusted Grouper with Mango Chutney and more.
We had fun interacting with the chef too (Brenda) who stayed to clean up, etc... She brought so much food that we refrigerated a lot of it and had it again the next day (overall I saved money on our food budget because of this).
THe cost for us (two of us) came to $175.00 - this is the minimum she charges, but if you have more people, the charge is per person and may come out more economical. I also ordered two trays from her to keep in the room as appetisers (we had a fruit and cheese tray w/crackers and a vegie tray with different dips - our trays were only $20.00 each!!!) I'm not sure but she might have given me a discount since I had ordered the dinner.
Next time, if we have a villa again, I'm going to try her "prepared meals service" - this is where she will deliver prepared meals in prepackaged containers (fresh and hand made gourmet meals) , you store these in the frig and can heat or bake at your leasuire after you return from the parks.
This was a wonderful experience. While our chef , Brenda, prepared our meal, we went to the health club at the hotel for massages. When we got back we "dressed for dinner" and interacted a lot with the chef. We had a blast. I'd recommend it to anyone with access to a kitchen. For a more "romantic meal" - you could set your table up on the balcony or in the bedroom area for more privacy - we enjoyed talking to the chef but I suppose some people would want a more intimate setting. Brenda cleaned up the kitchen too.
Any questions?
Had a great experience with Gifts of a Lifetime too. (we went all out this trip! Sure was fun!)
