This Frugal Family's DDP Reviews - 9 Days of TS, CS and Snacks - w/PIC'S!

[IckyMickey]

Now, let’s start by remembering that frugal does not mean cheap. I like to think it just means watching your dollar so you get the most for it. I certainly enjoy shopping and eating out, but love to see what I can save. So, now that I look at my receipts every night before I go to bed and dream about them. I need to get them off of my mind. One of my vacation pleasures was to see every night what we spent and what we saved. Weird huh? We ended up with about $1456 in food and only paid $900. Love that DDP already!

Here’s our
DH – 35, loves steaks, will eat almost anything (not really into seafood though)
Me – 36, love shrimp and steaks, pretty much anything also
DS9 – eats the standard items, but will try new things (turning 10 10/29)
DS4 – eats the standard items too, not worth arguing over trying new sit down dinner items. (actually 4-1/2)

Here’s what you’ll find:

Table Service:
Chef Mickey’s
Hollywood & Vine
LeCellier
Boma’s
Crystal Palace
Hoop Dee Doo Review
Concourse Steakhouse
Mama Melrose’s

Counter Service:
Pop Food Court
Pizza Planet & Studio Flatbread
Tangeriene Cafe
Flame Tree
Pecos Bill’s
Wolfgang Puck Express
Cosmic Ray’s
Tusker House
ABC Commissary



DAY 1 – 10/19/06 - Arrival

CS – Pop Food Court (total cost $19.80)
We arrived at the Pop around 2:00 pm and hadn’t eaten anything except breakfast and a few snacks on the plane. We had a 5:10 ADR for Chef Mickey’s so we decided to share a kids and adult CS). DH and I split the Beef, Bean and Bleu flatbread, the tie-dye cheesecake and a soda (we also bought the refillable mug.) We had to wait about 15 minutes because they had to make more flatbread. I thought it was good, but my husband thought it was good enough to order later in the week. The cheesecake was very good! The kids split a Chicken Nugget kids meal with french-fries, grapes, a MM rice krispie bar, and soda. The nuggets remind me of McDonalds and they were happy - that’s all that matters. When I asked the cashier how I knew the difference in remaining adult vs kids CS, he told me they were all grouped together and kids did not need to order off the adult menu. That made me feel good if the choices weren’t.


TS – Chef Mickey’s (total cost $102.04)
We checked in for our 5:10 ADR, had our picture taken with a very uncooperative DS4 (I can’t really blame him since he had been up since 5:00am) and were seated within 5 minutes. I was disappointed that there was no character to take a picture with, although DS4 was such a bear, I doubt it would have looked well anyway. Goofy’s Kitchen in DL had The Big Blue Bear when we were there in 2003. While the food was fine, I thought the prime rib here was not the best out of the 3 buffets that we went to that had prime rib. I loved the cute little desserts including the Oreo that looked like a mouse hat. My husband didn’t eat for about 20 min’s after we were seated because I kept making him sit and be ready with the camcorder for when the characters came around.

I found I had to get some guts and specifically tell the characters that I wanted separate pictures with each of the boys as well as one together, otherwise the characters would grab the boys together for one shot. Each had their own autograph book / picture album ($10.99 at the guest shops) and I wanted each to have their own memories of the characters. Our waitress was great and she told us to sit at the table until all the characters came through and not to worry if we were already done eating. She also said that if we missed one she would go get it before we left. I wouldn’t go here just for the food, but this was a great way to get into the Disney groove with the characters and autographs. We’ll be back.

Snack – Pop Food Court (total cost $3.79)
On the advice of other Disser’s, we picked up the Entenmanns 8 pack of donuts for breakfast the next morning. Worked wonderfully!

 

[IckyMickey]

DAY 2 – 10/20/06 - MGM

CS – Pizza Planet (total cost $26.25)
The boys wanted pizza which was a safe bet for them. There is no kids menu here, so we ordered each a pizza combo. One pepperoni pizza, one cheese, each came with a side salad, soda and two MM rice krispie bars (but these didn’t have chocolate ears – there should be a law demanding chocolate ears be standard!). That was too much food! If I had known before, they could have easily split it. My kids liked the pizza and salad and my husband and I thought it was good too. We ended up saving the rice krispie bars for later.

CS – Studio Flatbread (total cost $25.93)This was close to Pizza Planet so while the boys started eating, I walked over there. I still don’t understand why it’s called “Flatbread” since there was no flatbread or Mediterranean flair to be found. I ordered 2 pulled pork sandwiches with chips, soda, and a marble cheesecake and chocolate cake. I walked them back to Pizza Planet where we enjoyed our lunch upstairs in the cool. (I forgot to mention it was 92 degrees from Thurs – Mon.) This was a very good lunch. The pork was tender and the desserts weren’t bad either.

TS – Hollywood & Vine (total cost $89.59)
We had 5:20 pm ADR with the Fantasmic package. We waited about 10 minutes which gave us enough time to get the stroller cleaned up and go to the bathroom. We had an older waiter, Bill from New York, who was great. The food was limited, no prime rib but some other sliced steak which ended up being very tender. Again, a great selection of desserts. We received our Fantasmic seating ticket and enjoyed the park until around 7:00 when we found a seat for Fantasmic. The Fantasmic seating was great – a large reserved area just for those “special” people - the general seating sure was getting full! This restaurant was not as bad as I had heard. It was very open and busy, but clean and air conditioned. Would do again with the Fantasmic Package.

Snacks – none today, it was way too hot!

DAY 3 – 10/21/06 - EPCOT

CS – Tangerine Café (total cost $27.99)
Thanks again to fellow Disser’s - this was wonderful! We had 5:10 ADR’s at LeCellier and didn’t want to stuff ourselves since we didn’t get over here until 12:15, so we again split our meals. My husband and I shared the Schwarma – chicken and lamb platter, a soda and baklava. What a giant plate and absolutely wonderful! My kid’s split a cheese pizza, soda, and baklava. The pizza was a bit on the small side – but no complaints from them. My husband and I ate the baklava and it was very good! Yummy! We’ll be back here again!

TS – LeCellier (total cost $165.52)
When we were walking up to the restaurant, there were a ton of people walking away from it. When I checked in, I found it was because the restaurant was completely booked for the evening – thank goodness I love to plan ahead! We waited less than 5 minutes for our 5:10 ADR. We were seated at a table against the wall right next to the corner table, which we were very happy with. Our waitress, Candice, was wonderful, and told us all about the drinks, app’s and desserts that came with the plan. The breads (except multi-grain – apparently we aren’t eating too healthy on this trip) were quickly eaten up by all of us. There was a nice spacing between the app and dinner and dinner and dessert.

I ordered a Red Maple Smoothie, Shrimp Cocktail, Mushroom Filet, and Crème Brulee Duo. Absolutely wonderful! I’ve been looking forward to smoothies, the shrimp with the wasabee sauce was eaten rather quickly (I now wish I had savored it a bit more), the filet was so tender and delicious and I LOVE BRULEE- vanilla, maple – it doesn’t really matter (something I learned at DW.) My DH ordered a Coke, the Salmon Timbale, 14 oz NY strip steak, and Chocolate Cake. The salmon was outstanding, the steak was extremely delicious (and all gone), and the cake was “some of the best he ever had.” My DS9 ordered a chocolate shake, Cheese soup, filet and Chocolate Moose. I was allowed one taste of the soup, which tells you how much he liked it. The steak was huge and he enjoyed (but didn’t finish) that as well. The Chocolate Moose is sooo cute that every time we look at the picture he gets a big smile on his face. Finally, DS4 ordered the vanilla shake, side salad, spaghetti, and Smores. The salad looked to be of regular size and my DS4 ate quite a bit while DS9 helped himself to it also. I heard no complaints about the spaghetti, and the Smore was almost cuter than the Moose. It was giant and I saw adults ordering it too. We were done in about one hour – the perfect time with 2 kids!

What an absolutely wonderfully delicious meal. We added an extra $10 to the tip, she was worth it. know that we would have not gone here had it not been for the DDP. We’ll be returning here at least once on our next visit, but until then have lots of pictures of our food to salivate over.

Salmon Appetizer

Shrimp Appetzier

My filet dinner

My son's filet off the kid's menu

Chocolate Cake:

Kid's Moose:

Kid's Smores:

Snacks –
I used the Disser’s snack listing and was ready with a list of snacks we wanted to try.
(2) Rainbow Kaki Gori – these were better than I anticipated $5.00
Pretzel from Germany – warm and tasty! $3.50
(2) bags of Gummi candy from Germany $6.30

8 pack Entenmanns’s Donuts from Pop $3.79


DAY 4 – 10/22/06 - ANIMAL KINGDOM

CS – Flame Tree (total cost $47.85)
We arrived around 11:00am after making DS4 ride the Dinosaur ride (omg – was that scary!) My husband and I ordered our own meals but shared them at the table. I ordered the half chicken meal, diet coke and a frozen lemonade for dessert (so glad to see this as a dessert!), my DH ordered the rib meal, coke and chocolate cake, my DS9 ordered the beef sandwich, sprite and frozen lemonade for dessert, and DS4 ordered the hot dog with grapes, applesauce, apple juice, and frozen lemonade for dessert. I was really not impressed. The ribs were a bit dry, it helped to have extra sauce on the side. My chicken had a few hairs still on it – which always thoroughly disgusts me. My DH got that piece (and no I didn’t tell him about them – he’ll find out when he reads this.) After the traumatizing hair ordeal, the 92 degree heat, and lack of tenderness in the chicken and ribs, the best part of this meal were the FROZEN LEMONADES. Thankfully – we got to choose them with the kids meals too.

TS – Boma (total cost $94.57)
We took the bus right from AK to AKL and arrived about 45 minutes before our 6:00 ADR. When I asked if we could get in early the CM did not have a very positive answer so we decided to tour AKL while waiting. Not more than 20 steps out the door, our pager goes off. We’re grateful!

Doug, our server from Chicago, was not very attentive, but we did get soda refills without asking. There were quite a few “new to us” items at the buffet which were all very good. My favorite was the hummus. 3 different kinds and all were wonderful - my second plate was just hummus. Mmmm, hummus. They also offered prime rib which was very good too (2nd best that we had.) The desserts were again very delicious – zebra domes, banana cannolli’s, cookies, tarts. I have pic’s of these at home too. By now, my husband was use to me taking pictures of my desserts, ha ha. We were done within an hour and happy to be on our way back to Pop for quiet evening and of course swimming for the boys.

Boma desserts

I’m glad we went here, there were so many wonderful reviews. I thought it was very good, my DH and kids had no complaints, but not sure if we would immediately return here next time we visit. My DS9 did love the desserts though and when we offered him something off of the plate we brought back, he ate everything on it (he’s a size 10 slim so it’s always interesting when he takes such a liking to something.) Very cute!



Well, I hope you’re enjoying this as much as I’m enjoying reliving it. More to come after I get the house moving on a Saturday morning….


Next up, Cosmic Ray’s, Crystal Palace, Wolfgang Puck Express, Hoop Dee Doo Review and more…

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Thanks for the reviews. I think I might try tusker house instead of flame tree bbq. I almost gagged reading that part.

 

[NeverBeen2DW]

you said: When I asked the cashier how I knew the difference in remaining adult vs kids CS, he told me they were all grouped together and kids did not need to order off the adult menu. That made me feel good if the choices weren’t.

Did you mean that they did not need to order of the kids menu?

 

[karenh1127@h]

I have enjoyed reading your review of food. I am still undecided about the ddp. There are 4 of us including 10 y o twins. I know there will be times my boys will want to order from the kids menu but I have to pay the adult rate for them on the ddp. I am comparing what you spent in a day to the ddp rate per day but I have to ask, do you think yall would have ordered apps and desserts every meal had it not been included? That is where the money savings shows but I am not sure we would order all that food normally and paying oop.

 

[IckyMickey]

Dear NeverBeen2DW-

That's what I was told and what I did a few times depending on selections at CS. Only at Flame Tree did the cashier look at my card and say "2 adults, 2 kids". Off course, that was one of two or three times where he wanted an adult meal. I just had my husband walk back up and order my DS9's meal. I've read other threads where the parents have ordered all adult meals and never been questioned.

You do need to order off of the kids menu at TS though - we did mostly buffets, so it wasn't a problem (only at Concourse did we experience the "new kids menu.")

 

[IckyMickey]

Dear karenh1127@h,

Desserts were usually around $3 at CS and no we wouldn't have ordered them usually had we paid OOP. Honestly, I think you will get your money's worth by just going to TS - buffetts or a few character dinners.

If I had to pay $100 OOP for a buffet, I would be shoveling food down their throats! I honestly didn't care if they only had a plate of jello, or grapes or mainly ate dessert. My frugal part knew that this was paid for and I was getting my money's worth, and we were all happy. We went with the flow. That included snacks too, ice cream floats, cotton candy, chocolate shakes, candy from the German store, "sure that's fine."

I didn't get a refrigerator in our room, because I knew with all the food that we were getting, it wasn't necessary to take anything back and eat it later. We ate what we wanted and the rest was taken away.

My DS9 turned 10 1 day after we had returned and I would have done the DDP with him, although there are times he eats little. You will get your money's worth - maybe not as much as we did, but perhaps like us, you can try restaurants that we wouldn't have gone to otherwise. I really think that's what made our trip so enjoyable - great food, we all ordered what we wanted without looking at prices, and no worries about food budgets, etc. or sharing cuz we had to. Another thing is the new CS kids meals (if you were to pay OOP) are not that attractive and I don't think many 10 year olds would really enjoy them all week long - so you would most likely be ordering adult CS for them on and off anyways. There is not one burger on the kid's CS anywhere.

I am a true believer in the DDP.

 

[IckyMickey]

Day 5 – 10/23/06 – Magic Kingdom & MNSSHP

CS – Pecos Bills (total cost $27.84)
We got here exactly at 11:00 and there were no lines - not very attractive Kid’s Meal choices again. We took fellow Disser’s advice and ordered 2 Bacon Double Cheeseburger baskets, 2 drinks and 2 Peanut Butter Brownies. I then paid out of pocket for 2 buns – 80 cents each. We split the burgers among the 4 of us because they were so big! The fixens bar is great – but yes - NO MORE CHEESE SAUCE. I asked the people behind the fixens counter and they said you could get it at the regular counter free. Well, it wasn’t free, although only 50 cents a cup, but it took longer to get the cheese sauce than to get our entire meal. I thought the burger was tasty, but did add tomatoes, lettuce, and sautéed mushrooms to it. DS9 chowed his down. Dessert wasn’t bad either.

We headed back to our hotel around 2:00 to rest before MNSSHP and change into our costumes.

TS – Crystal Palace (total cost $102.04)
We arrived as the Pirate Family for our 4:50 pm ADR and waited no more than 5 minutes. What a beautiful restaurant! Stephen was our server and not very attentive (to the people next to us either.) The food area did not have a large choice, but they had the best prime rib for a buffet and those delicious mashed potatoes! Again, the desserts were very good also. The characters came around once and I was ready to give picture directions to them when they arrived. We were out of there in an hour and ready for MNSSHP.

Snacks –Launching Pad (total cost approx $8.00)
Got a cream cheese stuffed pretzel and blue slushie $8.00
I should have gone with the spicy pretzel though.


Day 6 – 10/24/06 – DTD & HDHR

CS – Pop’s Food Court (total cost $5.60)
2 Snacks – Pop’s Food Court (donuts $3.79, croissant $2.79 – total cost $6.58)
Since we started to have extra CS, DS4 and I who were up at 8:15 walked down to see the selections. Yummy! He got the Kid’s Mickey Mouse waffles (3 or 4), with bacon and sausage, an applesauce and milk. I used 2 snack credits for donuts and a chocolate croissant (which I warmed up in the micro’s they have there). I love them too! I filled our refillable mug with hot chocolate and we went back to the room.

CS – Wolfgang Puck Express (total cost $32.06)
After the longest bus ride of the week, we arrive at DTD. We decided to eat right away as it was already 11:35. There was already a line in here as a lot of important military people like to eat here. There was limited seating inside which we got thankfully as it was chilly in the 60’s that day. The cashier was very helpful! My DH and I ordered our own meals but shared. I had the 9” Signature 4 cheese pizza. This was wonderful! I wish I hadn’t had to share. DH ordered the Chicken Aioli Sandwich, which was good but not extraordinary. The boys shared a pepperoni pizza. We all had fountain drinks. For dessert I should have ordered the Crème Brulee, but instead we got 3 huge cookies – which we ended up taking with us.

Note that DS4 started getting a cold this morning, around 11:00 pm at MNSSHP a cold front came through and he was already coughing so he didn’t eat a lot for the next few days.

Snacks – Goofy’s Candy Co. (total cost $5.49)
Cotton Candy $3.00 (approx.)
Mickey Mouse Pretzels $2.49 (brought back for DS4 to share at preschool class)

I am quite upset. We went through here rather quickly and I didn’t know until after I returned that you can make your own MM rice krispie bars with toppings here. Ugh – that would have been so much fun!

TS – Hoop Dee Doo Review (total cost $151.27)
I had really wanted to do this for my son’s birthday (was turning 10 on Sunday) and was really excited for it. We got a little later start from the Pop (3:45 pm for a 5:00 show) and this is the only day we had to wait 20 min’s for a bus to MK. We were then going to take the ferry to the campground, but I started to panic that we wouldn’t get there at 4:30 like they wanted so we took a cab which costs $20. Needless to say, they don’t let you in until exactly 5:00 anyways, so we could have shown up any time before that.

The corn bread and salad were both very good. Beer and wine are included in your meal but I think it was Bud Light and growing up in Milwaukee – I’m a Miller drinker. Soda it was for me and the boys, DH got the beer and they bring you a glass of it and a small pitcher is left at your table for your refills. The show begins as you’re eating your bread and salad, and then they break and the fried chicken and ribs are brought out in buckets as well as corn on the cob and beans. The ribs were much better than Flame Tree but not the greatest. I enjoyed the fried chicken but was still a bit leary with the Flame Tree chicken experience still in my mind. The corn was good as were the beans, but I really could have used some floss after eating the corn!

The show continued and my DH and DS9 enjoyed it. DS4 has been addicted to coloring since arriving so that’s all he did at our table. Didn’t care about eating or watching the show - just colored.

They bring out strawberry shortcake’s in small buckets that each 2 people share (by putting it on your dessert plate.) The server did bring out a small candle to put in DS9’s dessert – which won us a big smile.

I have to say, the frugal part of me thought that this was a giant waste of 2 TS per person. I’m glad we got to experience it and it was my decision, but I don’t think I will ever plan to go back. LeCellier was 1 TS per person and such a greater value. Next time we will go to WCC instead.


Day 7 – 10/25/06 – Magic Kingdom (again)

CS – Cosmic Rays (total cost $42.72)
We arrived here at 11:30 and DH and I ordered from different areas. I ordered the Chicken Caesar Salad, Iced Mocha Cappuccino and carrot cake ($14.24). While the salad was very large and very good and I felt good about a “healthy choice”, I was unhappy with my selection. I had wanted the Turkey Bacon Wrap, but was really hungry and afraid that it was only ½ a wrap (and no one else had walked past with one) so I ordered the salad. As soon as I walk up to the counter, here is this wonderfully large delicious wrap sitting out. Oh, I should have gone with my gut instinct!!!!! I still want that wrap! The cappuccino which sounded really good when I ordered, did nothing for me. The carrot cake was fine.

DH went to another counter and ordered for himself and DS9 (DS4 still not hungry or eating – was hoping he hadn’t gotten strep!). DH ordered 2 Bacon Double Cheeseburgers with French fries, 2 sodas and a carrot and chocolate cake ($28.48). The same type of fixens bar was here as at Pecos Bills. They finished it all.

Snacks –
DS4 finally started to show some appetite and asked for an ice cream bar. I thought that sounded soothing and was willing to get him whatever he wanted just to get something in him.

Orange Juice Bar $3.00
Root Beer Float $3.93 (DS4 wanted this too, but didn’t finish so had to toss)
Pineapple Float $4.25 (after so much discussion on this site about it, I had to get it! I don’t really like pineapple but this was quite delicious!

TS – Concourse Steakhouse (total cost $115.66)
As MK was open until 9:00pm, I was looking forward to getting out of the park and relaxing for a little while. We took the monorail over and were there at 5:20pm for our 5:30 ADR. This was not the greatest experience – but not really bad either. The restaurant opens at 5:30 so we should have immediately been seated, however we waited about 10 min’s past our ADR time. Then our server, Theresa, wants our drink and appetizer order within 2 minutes of sitting down. The appetizer selection is different than AllEars.net so I am scampering to figure out what I want and had to also ask about smoothies on the plan. We then need to quickly decide what we’re doing with the new Kid’s Menu’s – the all in 1 plate combo or the ala carte. Very rushed. So I can finally breathe after ordering drinks and appetizers and Theresa is back wanting our dinner orders. I was a bit out of sorts and should have told her to come back but didn’t.

So, my order is Steakhouse Smoothie, onion ring appetizer (shared), Ribeye steak with sauce on the side, and Crème Brulee. The onion rings were very good as well as the chicken wings, but low and behold, my steak comes out with onion rings too. I was so rushed when ordering I didn’t even have time to read everything so I got more onion rings! Couldn’t my server have told me when she noticed I had more of them coming? Not happy. I like that the Crème Brulee is always a small dish which makes finishing it an easy and delicious task! My DH ordered a Coke, Honey Chicken Wings appetizer (shared), NY Strip Steak, and Butterfinger Cheesecake. His steak was once again very good, he was too full to finish his dessert. DS9 ordered the Kid’s Chicken Pita Pizza, side salad and apples for dessert. It all came out together, although I believe I had asked that the salad be brought out when we received our appetizers. The pizza did not get a very good review and neither did the salad or apples. For DS4 we ordered him the Fruit & Vegetable Dipping Plate. I was glad to see this because it is exactly what he needed with that cold. He enjoyed everything that was dippable. He also got this giant bowl of yogurt which he didn’t eat (although he loves yogurt) and a doubly giant bowl of chicken salad. How many kids eat chicken salad, much less without it being a sandwich. Not one touch either. Since the apples and yogurt were considered dessert that’s all they got. I had been looking forward to ordering them the Cookie Pallette, but they didn’t seem hungry any more and I didn’t want to pay OOP for it.

We were out of there and back in the park before 7:00pm, thanks to our pushy server. We may go there again, but take charge of the ordering situation. I really was happy to have a break from the park and it was quick to get there and back. The food was really quite good too.

Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee

Butterfinger Cheesecake

Alright, time for lunch, oh I wish it was that Bacon Turkey Wrap!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only a few reviews left and my life can get back to "normal" LOL - Pop Food court and Mama Melrose's left with a few other CS and snacks...

 

[DisneyMom5]

Nice reviews!
Thanks!

 

[Mad4Dizne]

I think we will have the same experience with the kids meals though....( looks like I may be eating them!). Looking forward to your Mama Melrose review!!!

 

[IckyMickey]

And Finally,

Day 8 – 10/26/06 – Animal Kingdom (again)

CS – Everything Pop – breakfast (total cost $11.59)
We’ve got extra CS to use and our time is running out so we went down for breakfast before heading to AK. We shared the following: Kid’s Mickey Mouse waffles, with bacon, sausage, applesauce and orange juice and the adult chocolate chip pancakes- I don’t remember what else, also a large chocolate milk. We also filled our refillable mug with hot chocolate again. Everything was very good, and gone!


CS – Tusker House (total cost $14.14)
I was so excited to see the Turkey Wrap at Tusker House after my error at Cosmic Rays so I had my DH order it while I ran down to Pizzafari. What a disappointment! It was half a wrap (which my DH and I were going to split) with no flavor. The salad that came with also had no flavor, but the soup was ok. The carrot cake was a large piece and the cream cheese frosting was quite delish! The salmon looked good, but I’m not a salmon person. I should have ordered the chicken sandwich - it look large and crunchy.

CS – PIZZAFARI (total cost $24.33)
DS's shared a Pepperoni Pizza, soda and frozen lemonade for dessert . They ate it all, but DS9 loved his dessert! I ordered the deli sandwich that sounded quite delicious with chips, soda and frozen strawberry lemonade. The sandwich, like the wrap was only ½. What’s up with portion control now? So for lunch DH and I both had ¼ wrap and ¼ sandwich – not enough to even taste.

Snack – (total cost $12.00 approx.)
3 rootbeer floats in smaller cups but with cute Pluto straws!

I did something terribly stupid, but the CM’s were great. It was quite hot again and we were going to see the Lion King. We have never seen it before and we were all really thirsty. There was the Soft serve ice cream stand near the entrance so I told my DH to take the boys in and I would get the rootbeer floats. So, I go walking up to the entrance with all 3 and the woman says there’s no food or drink allowed. Oh my gosh, what a waste! I said “how can you help me, my DH and boys already went in?) Of course DH didn’t bother to read the sign and warn me. So, the CM gave me a voucher for 3 more floats and I had to throw mine away (although I did drink all the soda out of them first) and I saved the straws for our nieces. That was really considerate of the CM for my dumb mistake.

CS – Everything Pop (total cost $46.08)
As we used 2 TS at the HDDR, this was our CS night. It was again nice to slow down and relax. I ordered the loaded nachos, soda and Twinkie Tiramisu. Everything was wonderful. DH again ordered the Beef, bean and blue flatbread, soda, and Lunar Cheesecake. He again had to wait awhile for the flatbread – not sure why. He again enjoyed it though! DS9 got the Double Cheeseburger basket with fries, chocolate milk, and MM rice krispey bar. He ate the whole thing, no complaints. DS4 had the chicken noodle soup, grapes and applesauce with a white milk. The counter person was very helpful when I asked for only a little broth and put in more noodles in it’s place. That was a lot of soup! Again, no complaints. We took the MM rice krispey bars back to the room. I really like Pop’s Food Court!

Day 9 – 10/27/06 – MGM (last day)

CS – Everything Pop (total cost $8.52)
We got the adult Breakfast Platter (scrambled eggs, potatoes, biscuit, sausage, and bacon) and chocolate milk and shared it along with the remaining donuts we had. DH wasn’t hungry this morning.

Snack – Min & Bill’s (total cost $7.97)
We had 16 snack credits left on our last day and I was determined to use some! Min & Bill’s was on the snack dis site, so we ordered a Spicy Pretzel and Chocolate Shake. That was one thick shake! We should have ordered more than one though.

CS – ABC Commissary (total cost $37.39)
We had 5 CS left and I wasn’t leaving any behind so we all ordered our own lunches, hungry or not. Again, DH and I split our meals with each other – this time I wish I would have just gotten to eat his! I ordered the Tabbouleh Wrap, with marinated tomatoes, soda, and strawberry parfait. Blah, blah, blah! No flavor whatsoever! The parfait was ok. DH ordered the Cuban Sandwich with chips, soda and Chocolate Mousse. This sandwich was WONDERFUL! Warm, melted cheese, soft bread. A whole sandwich! MMM, I wish I had found this one earlier! DS9 had Chicken Nuggets with grapes, French fries, soda, and sugar free jello. No complaints from him, he ate everything except the jello. DS4 had the stir fry with grapes, applesauce, apple juice, and sugar free jello. Gosh, this stir fry was packed with vegetables. I had to scrape a few layers off to find the noodles that DS4 loves. This is the only place we were required to get that sugar-free jello dessert – I actually brought both of them all the way home to Milwaukee where they finally found their way to the garbage!

TS – Mama Melrose’s (total cost $112.00)
This was our final TS and I chose another Fantasmic package as the boys had really enjoyed Fantasmic and I enjoyed not wasting my time saving a good seat. I had made the ADR’s when I did the others, but would have canceled prior to 48 hours if they didn’t like the show. I know people talk about a limited menu with the Fantasmic package, but you get a ton of food and your main course choices number around 8-10.

We started with the fresh bread and salad. Every one of us enjoyed the bread and had a nice serving of salad. I LOVED that salad! I would have eaten every single piece had I not known how much more food was on the way!

Next came the 4-cheese Wood Fired Pizza. This was WONDERFUL. Topped with lots of warm gooey cheese. DS9 had a few pieces and DS4 gobbled one down too.

Then the main course: I ordered the Eggplant Napoleon because a fellow Disser had reviewed how outstanding it was. Guess what, absolutely WONDERFUL! Two pieces of breaded eggplant with a slice of tomato and mozzarella cheese in between. I’m not sure what the bean thing was on the bottom, but I didn’t find it necessary to eat. DH ordered the Spicy Italian Sausage. He liked it, didn’t think it was outstanding, but didn’t think it was bad either – he thought they skimped on the sausage. The boys needed to order off the new “Kid’s Menu” so DS9 had the burger. No complaints from him. DS4 had the spaghetti, but they forgot to put the sauce on the side. DS4 didn’t apparently didn't care.

For dessert I had the Hazelnut Cheesecake, DH had the warm chocolate truffle cake, and both boys had hot fudge sundaes. Everything was again very good, but we ended leaving at least ½ of it behind.


Eggplant Napoleon

Spicy Italian Sausage - already mixed up - sorry!

Hazelnut Cheesecake (click on address)

Chocolate Truffle Cake

DS9 with with birthday sundae

Our server forgot to add the tip to the bill and I brought it up to her. She went to fix it and said “it will take too long, don’t worry about it.” We were like, don’t worry, you deserve it, we can shop across the street, but she insisted no. We then felt bad as she certainly had deserved a tip, so we threw down $10. It wasn’t what she would have gotten, but it was more than nothing that she had insisted on. I still feel a little cheap about the whole thing.

We would definitely go back. I really thought the food was great - I would perhaps even use the word outstanding! I’m surprised at all the bad reviews this place has gotten.

CS – Everything Pop (total cost $12.22)
We are using every last CS and had 1 left! We got a loaded nachos to take back to the room, soda, and MM rice krispey bar. Quite tasty!

Snacks – Everything Pop (total cost $39.42)
If you were keeping track above, we still had 14 snacks left and were heading home at 5:00am the next morning. I’m not wasting those either! I had started formulating this plan to take MM rice krispey bars home for souvenirs for our friends and family. So at 9:02 pm, with DS4 sleeping in the stroller, I hoarded all remaining MM rice krispey bars at the Pop. 10 to be exact and walked around the food court with them on top of the stroller. Oh, the looks I got! I also picked up a Lay’s Chip container for DS9, another bag of MM pretzels, and a box of character cookies for our neighbor. This still left 1 more snack remaining! Just then the food court stocker showed up with more rice krispey bars, so I got the final one I needed. Mission accomplished!


Ah, what a great trip! As you can see, we love to eat and eat we did. We would never had so many TS had we paid OOP, and it was just plain wonderful to sit down and be served every night with wonderful food. I honestly think this was a very big part of why we enjoyed our trip so much!

By the way - I lost 13 lbs before my trip and only gained 1 while on it. I gained another 2 at home eating Halloween candy. I am now back to “dieting” and lost 5 lbs. This has nothing to do with the DDP, but I’m really proud of myself!

So, thanks for reading my reviews. I really enjoyed reliving our vacation and would like to think my obsession with Disney food is over (I believe my DH would too.)

Take Care,

Michelle

Our happy family!

 

[cocoswife]

I really enjoyed your dining reviews


Thanks!!

 

[novdisneydreams]

Great Report! Thanks!

 

[The Sweetness]

Very thorough! thx

 

[Disneymaniacs]

Thanks for the reviews. I think I might try tusker house instead of flame tree bbq. I almost gagged reading that part.

 

[MinnieMommy]

Great reviews! Thanks!

We will be staying at POP and are planning many of the same TS & CS so it was really helpful!

 

[bigbabyblues]

I'm enojoying your reviews. We found that Pizza Planet was fine for us to share to combo meals (family of 4, 2 small kids), and it worked out well. Everything sounds so good, but YUCK on the hairs at Flame Tree!

Do you know if adults can get a Chocolate Moose at LeCellier?

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying reading your reviews ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[bigbabyblues]

You ate at several places I'm planning for our next trip, and thanks for the reviews! I'm trying to decide between H&V or Mama Melrose's for the Fantasmic package, I'm thinking of MM's now though.....

 

[LoriNSC]

Thanks for reviews. I was considereing Mama Melrose's Fant. Pkg. but wasn't too sure. I think I'll try it.