Deluxe Dining Plan All-Male Revue...er, we mean Review **Updated w/Tutto Italia 7/6

[MuppetGuySF]

So, I am a huge fan of reading dining reviews. Just love it. But I notice that almost all of those writing dining reviews are people with families, or honeymooning couples, so I decided that it's time for the men to sneak into this trend.

So here's the story, we're two single guys who are Disney geeks at heart (and mind!) who are totally stoked (can you tell I'm from Northern California?) to be on the DELUXE dining plan. We both LOVE to eat, and in particular, love eating good food. So I think perhaps this report will have a slightly different angle than other trip reports, what with the whole all-male perspectives...I'm hoping it will keep everyone interested as much as the rest of your reports have kept me incessantly reading every last word!

Let me assure you there will be A LOT of eating on this trip. None of this, "Oh we were too stuffed to order dessert." None of this, "We ended up with so many extra credits at the end of our trip." This is pedal-to-the-medal, full-speed-ahead, dining extravaganza. Hope ya like it!

Here's a little bit about us. In classic DISboard Dining Report fashion, we've chosen Disney character names for ourselves. Another unique element of this review will be hearing from each of us in our own words. I'll be writing in the standard color and he'll be writing in RED

Me: Evinrude (definitely earn bonus points in my book if you immediately know who that is!!) I'm 35, grew up in Northern California, so I was a Disneyland kid growing up. Went there several times with the family growing up, also went with friends in high school and throughout college. Lately, I've been chaperoning trips annually for 7th and 8th graders to the Land and DCA. Been to Disney World twice before, but neither were well-planned trips. More like quick jaunts without knowing the art of really planning for a WDW trip. Only have been to 3 table service restaurants total! I have a broad taste for food. I love fine dining, but am also totally a fan of some chain restaurants (Chili's is at the top of my list! Fajitas!...YUMMY!) I love seafood and chicken, and tend to love fried foods (I know, I know...it's so bad for me, but I can start the diet when I get back, right?) I wouldn't call myself especially adventurous with new flavors and foods, but I'm trying to break out of that shell. I'm not one to make a fuss at a restaurant, but occasionally speak my mind if I don't get what I ordered! My biggest peeve? My entree arriving while I'm still eating my appetizer. Argh!

Langbein (I don't even think we could come up with a prize big enough for you if you get this reference) is a 24-year old with a self-described huge ego and even bigger stomach. I've been to Disney more times then I can count, primarily as a kid. My brother ("DB" for all you board veterans out there) and I used to visit each year with my grandparents, from the time that I was 3 or 4 up through my 15th birthday or so. Those trips typically consisted of a stay at the Grand Hyatt, the Marriott World Center, or the Dolphin/Swan complex. After that streak ended, I visited The World twice more - once with the sleepaway camp I attended and once two years ago with family. Both times we stayed offsite.

I'm extremely excited to be staying onsite for the first time, and can't wait to sample all of the delicious food on our deluxe dining plan of deliciousness. When it comes to food tastes, I'm pretty flexible - always willing to try anything plated before me and working hard to get as much into me as possible. It's no wonder I gained so much weight in college!

I consider myself to have a fairly good palate and know good food when I taste it. We've made our dining decisions based on a few criteria:
1) DISBoards Dining Review Pictures - if it looks good in your pictures, we want to try it!
2) Reviews all over the web - we're pretty trusting of other people's opinions. If you've said it isn't any good, we probably aren't going there
3) Cost (this one might be just me, not Evinrude) - with the DDP costing a sizeable chunk of change, I'm down to get the best value possible out of each meal. That may or may not mean that I'll be ordering the most expensive things on the menu (assuming I like them) each time. Hey, a guy can try to get a good value, can't he?

Looking forward to keeping you all in the loop on this culinary tour de' Disney. Stay tuned!


So here's our plan:

June 7 (Arrival Day) Evinrude gets in at 6:15 AM and Langbein arrives at 11:00 AM. Evinrude's probably gonna have to eat SOMETHING for breakfast, but not sure where yet. Oh, btw, we're staying at AKL.

Park: Animal Kingdom
Lunch: Yak & Yeti (page 9, #127)
Dinner: Jiko (page 11, #161)

June 8
Park: Epcot
Breakfast: Probably use some snack credits at Mara.
Lunch: Tutto Italia (page 12, #172)
Dinner: Le Cellier

June 9
Park: Disney Hollywood Studios
Breakfast: Boma
Lunch: Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater
Dinner: Brown Derby

June 10
Park: Magic Kingdom
Breakfast: Not sure, maybe snack credits somewhere
Lunch: Plaza Restaurant
Dinner: Hoop-De-Doo Revue

June 11
Backstage Magic Tour (We're SUPER excited about this!), and the rest of the day at Epcot
Lunch: Whispering Canyon Cafe (included on the tour)
Dinner: Teppan Edo

June 12
Park: Probably more Animal Kingdom; possibly golfing at Fantasia Gardens
Breakfast: Spoodles
Lunch: Beaches and Cream
Dinner: Flying Fish

June 13
Park: Magic Kingdom
Breakfast: Crystal Palace
Lunch: Grand Floridian Cafe
Dinner: Tony's

June 14
Park: Who knows?
Breakfast: Kona Cafe
Lunch: Chefs de France
Dinner: Narcoosee's

June 15
We'll be around for Breakfast and Lunch, but no plans yet

So whatta ya think? We are PSYCHED!!!