14 Days of Gluttony AKA Doing Free Dining Again! COMPLETE!

[MrsB1228]

Hi everyone! This is my second-ever dining report as I'm a very bad DIS'er and always forget to take photos of our food before we dig in, LOL. My sister and I spent two weeks in the World last year and the only pictures I remembered to take was of her chocolate "moose" from Le Cel and her piece of Martha Washington cake at Liberty Tree Tavern <hangs head in shame>. Hubby was with me this time and he's great at reminding me to take photos. There were still times we had a taste before I remembered the camera, but on average, we did fairly well.

This trip was to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, our absolute favourite resort and we had an amazing time. When if comes to food, I'm afraid we don't have very sophisticated palates, so you won't find any signature dining or exotic choices here. My hubby is very much a "plain food" kinda guy and won't venture out of his comfort zone when it comes to food. Having said that, we had some fabulous meals during this trip, along with some that were good and some that were just OK. I'm happy to report that no meal was horrible and we thoroughly enjoyed our vacation at the happiest place on earth.

We were at Disney from September 26th to October 10th. We had the Free Dining plan and were there during Epcot's Food & Wine Festival. We visited some new (to us) places this trip, as well as revisiting some old favourites:

In MK:

Sleepy Hollow
Columbia Harbour House
Liberty Tree Tavern

In Epcot:

Sunshine Seasons
Le Cellier
Rose & Crown
Via Napoli
La Hacienda de San Angel
Nine Dragons
Tutto Italia
Tokyo Dining
Kringla Bakeri og Cafe
Various Food & Wine Festival booths

In AK:

Yak & Yeti (twice! )

In HS:

Starring Rolls

Downtown Disney:

Wolfgang Puck Express
Earl of Sandwich
Raglan Road
Ghiradelli

Resorts:

Beaches & Cream
Captain Cook's
Contempo Cafe
Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory
Riverside Mill
The Wave
Kona Cafe
Boatwright's

I'll be using a simple numerical rating system from 1 - 5. 1 being the absolute worst, avoid at all costs, never again rating. 2 will be just OK, not horrible but definitely below par. 3 will be average, 4 will be excellent, definitely worthy of repeating and 5 will be OMG I hear angels singing, how quickly can I get another ADR.

I'll be back soon with a review of our arrival day, followed by our first full day. I hope you'll come along with me!

 

[MrsB1228]

We touched down at MCO at 10:14am and headed straight to the Magical Express. After a very short wait, we boarded our motor coach and were on our way. We arrived at French Quarter at 11:40, and registration was super easy as I had done online check-in. Unfortunately our room wasn't ready, so we dropped our carry on bags at Bell Services and hopped on a boat to Downtown Disney. We decided lunch was going to be at Wolfgang Puck Express.

Now I must apologize for the fact that there are no pictures on this day as I completely forgot to take the camera with me. Hopefully my description will suffice.

DH had the Turkey Melt sandwich, which was layers of roast turkey with cheddar, caramelized onions, arugula and horseradish cream. If my memory is correct, it was served on toasted focaccia and accompanied by house made chips. DH loved this and ate every bite. He had a fruit cup for dessert, which consisted of pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew and grapes, a standard Disney fruit cup.

I had the Roast Salmon with Arugula salad, which was served with a bruschetta topping, a light vinaigrette, roasted fingerling potatoes and horseradish cream. This was to die for!! It was satisfying without being too heavy and was a great choice as the day was very hot and humid and a heavy meal would have been too much. I had vanilla frozen yogurt with strawberry topping for dessert. We each had a Strawberry-Kiwi bottled drink for our beverage.

Our overall rating for WPE: a perfect 5/5, both entrees were delicious and the desserts, although very simple, were just what we wanted.

This meal was 2 Quick Service credits and would have been $49.52 out of pocket before tip. It was a fantastic start to our Disney dining and we left full and happy.

Our room was ready by the time we returned from DTD at 2:45 and our luggage was also waiting for us. We got unpacked and settled in, then decided we'd walk to Riverside Mill at PO Riverside for dinner. I forgot the camera again, LOL. I do get better at the picture taking thing, I promise!

DH got another turkey sandwich, once again served with house made chips, which he said were just OK. He liked the chips from WPE more. The sandwich was delicious, it was a turkey club with cheddar, tomatoes, lettuce and mayo. He also had a small bowl of minestrone soup, which was rich, thick and very flavourful. His dessert was a chocolate sundae, two scoops of chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce. We each had chocolate milk to drink.

I had the make-your-own pasta. I ordered fettuccini in rose sauce (a half and half mixture of marinara and alfredo) with chicken, prosciutto, sun dried tomatoes, green peas, onion and parmesan cheese. Oh my, was this delicious!! It was served with a piece of garlic bread which in all honesty was a waste of tummy space. It was rather dry and hard, but the amazing pasta more than made up for it and was such a large serving I didn't come close to finishing it. I had a piece of red velvet cake for dessert, which I took back to the room with me and enjoyed before bed. It was moist and flavourful, with a lovely cream cheese icing. I find some red velvet cakes have a very artificial taste, but this one was delicious.

Overall rating for Riverside Mill: 4/5

We used 2 more quick service credits and 1 snack credit for the soup. Out of pocket this meal would have cost us $39.99.

Coming up in my next post, our first full day and our first table service meal at Le Cellier, this time with pics!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Great start! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[MrsB1228]

We were up bright and early today, looking forward to a wonderful day at Epcot. We grabbed a quick cup of coffee and were at the bus stop by 8:20. An Epcot bus pulled up within a few minutes and we were at the park by 8:40. After the opening presentation, we made a beeline to The Land, got our fastpasses for Soarin' and then rode standby. Love that ride! Since we hadn't had anything to eat and we had some time to kill before we could use our fastpasses, we decided to grab something from Sunshine Seasons. We didn't want anything too big as we had an 11:30 ADR for Le Cellier so we decided to split a serving of Croissant Berry Pudding. Now I've heard some amazing things about this here on the DIS, but I have to say we were very disappointed with it. It was only lukewarm, dry and virtually tasteless. It would have benefitted greatly if it was served with some kind of sauce, but I didn't see any at the station where we ordered it and I didn't think to grab any syrup. We only had a few bites and then trashed the rest. Anyone out there who has tried this and loved it, can you tell me what I'm missing? Is there a berry sauce or something that should go with it or did we just get a bad batch?

It even looks dry.

This gets a 2/5. It wasn't good at all and I don't think I'd try it again. It wasn't worth the money or the calories.

Lunch was at Le Cellier.

Love the grounds here!

After we were seated and placed our order, the wonderful bread selection was served.

Pretzel bread, sourdough and multigrain, served with unsalted butter. I just had the pretzel bread, but DH also enjoyed the sourdough.

I decided to try the Martini Flight, which consisted of three different martinis: the Sassy Berry, Godiva Chocolate and Blueberry. Overall, I'd give this drink a 3/5.

The Sassy Berry was my favourite, it was semi-sweet and refreshing. The Godiva Chocolate would make a great dessert drink as it was super sweet and the blueberry was my least favourite. It was very strong tasting with a pronounced alcohol flavour. Loved the light up glow cube though, LOL. DH ordered a Labatt's Blue, which really hit the spot on this hot, humid day.

I knew what I wanted before we arrived, LOL!

The Le Cellier Mushroom Filet. I had mine with cream cheese mashed potatoes instead of the risotto this time. I love them both, but I was in more of a potato mood that day. This was absolutely amazing!! The filet was incredibly tender and cooked to a perfect medium. The cream cheese mashed potatoes should be an official food group IMHO, they were creamy, hot and delicious. I ate every bite of this and managed to restrain myself before I licked the plate. 5/5

DH had the filet as well, but ordered his with steak fries and had the mushrooms and truffle butter sauce on the side. He's not a big fan of any kind of sauce so he poured the mushrooms on his steak and used the sauce very sparingly. He said his steak was also cooked perfectly and was very tender. He enjoyed the fries, they were crispy and golden on the outside and fluffy and tender on the inside. 4/5

Sorry for the crowded picture, but we were at a small 2-top and there was just no room to move things out of the way.

For dessert, I wanted something light, so I ordered the seasonal sorbet, which was Lychee.

This was just OK. I found the flavour rather strange, almost flower-like. Maybe I just don't like lychee but I don't think I'd order it again. 2/5

Frank had the chocolate "moose" and thoroughly enjoyed it.

He gives it 4/5.

Overall, Le Cellier gets a 4/5 from us. We both really enjoyed our meals and the service was excellent. Our water glasses were never empty and the food was served piping hot. We'll be back!!

This meal was 2 table service credits. Out of pocket cost would have been $81.86 without the alcohol or tip. The drinks were $23.16.

Up next: Tokyo Dining

 

[MrsB1228]

Great start! Looking forward to the rest!

Welcome and thanks for joining in!

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

I'm enjoying your reviews so far! Sorry you received a dry serving of the croissant bread pudding (I definitely enjoyed mine the one time I had it, and I remember it being moist), but I'm glad that Le Cellier lunch was very good overall. I'd love to try that lychee sorbet, since I'm a huge fan of lychees - they do have a somewhat floral taste, but they also remind me of pears due to their sweetness.

 

[Ro Z]

All in! I am too picky for sigs too.

 

[MrsB1228]

I'm enjoying your reviews so far! Sorry you received a dry serving of the croissant bread pudding (I definitely enjoyed mine the one time I had it, and I remember it being moist), but I'm glad that Le Cellier lunch was very good overall. I'd love to try that lychee sorbet, since I'm a huge fan of lychees - they do have a somewhat floral taste, but they also remind me of pears due to their sweetness.

Thanks for stopping by DDW! I love reading your dining reviews and have learned so much from them. I practically live on the TR and DR boards before a trip to the World and I wanted to "pay it forward" in the hope that my experiences may help someone else.

I was very disappointed with the croissant bread pudding, it wasn't at all what I was expecting. Texturally, it was very coarse and dry, as if it had been sitting under the heat lamps for a very long time. I highly doubt that was the case though, as it was still early morning when we were there. Surely it wasn't an old batch left over from the day before? Even though I'm sure that wasn't the case, it certainly tasted that way!

I've had lychee flavoured desserts in the past and although it isn't my favourite fruit, I've always enjoyed it before. I agree it has the sweetness of pears, but this incarnation, although sweet, almost tasted a bit soap-like if that makes any sense? It had a very odd aftertaste. In any case, I only ate a few bites and pushed it aside. Dessert was the reason Le Cellier ended up with a 4/5 overall instead of a perfect 5/5.

All in! I am too picky for sigs too.

LOL, glad to have you aboard, thanks for joining in!

 

[MrsB1228]

After taking a break in the afternoon to escape the hottest part of the day, we returned to Epcot for our 7:40 ADR at Tokyo Dining. I'm afraid this review will be picture-less as well since DH had been carrying the camera in his pocket and accidentally left it on the table in our room after he showered and changed his clothes.

We checked in at 7:30 and were seated at our reservation time right beside one of the windows looking out over world showcase lagoon. We had a wonderful view of Illuminations at 9:00! My only complaint is that they don't lower the lighting enough to prevent the window reflecting the restaurant interior, which is rather distracting, and although the music is piped in, it's barely audible. I imagine they don't dim the lights more than they do for safety reasons, which I understand. Regardless, we had wonderful "front row seats" and it was a great end to our first full day in WDW.

After receiving some hot towels to freshen up with, we ordered our beverages and then studied the menu. We each decided to order a bento box, which is a tasting selection of many different dishes. We both choose Sakura, which according to the menu was "chef selection of Japanese mixed grill, braised pork, tempura shrimp and vegetables". When our dinners arrived, they included tempura vegetables (zucchini, sweet potato and green beans), 1 tempura shrimp, marinated braised pork, a wonderful piece of grilled salmon which had been simply spiced and perfectly cooked, grilled chicken breast and four California rolls. It was accompanied by a bowl of white rice and a small serving of miso soup. The tempura was perfect, crispy and light and not greasy at all. Both the vegetables and shrimp were perfectly cooked. The salmon, as I mentioned, was delightful. The chicken was fine, it was just a piece of grilled chicken breast, very simple but not too exciting and the pork was delicious, tender and succulent. The California rolls were just ok, in my opinion they were the weakest component of the meal. I found them very bland and uninspired, much like you'd find in a mall food court. DH enjoyed them more than I did.

For dessert, DH had a dish of soft-serve chocolate ice cream and I chose the green tea pudding. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the pudding, as visually, it doesn't look all that appealing. It's definitely a case of don't judge a book by it's cover because it was very enjoyable. It's a flan-type dessert flavoured with matcha green tea and was delicious. DH's ice cream was just chocolate soft-serve but he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Overall, we give Tokyo Dining 4/5. The entrees overall were very good with a few weak points and my dessert was lovely. All in all, this was a great food day!

Up next: Day 2, which includes a quick breakfast at Sleepy Hollow, lunch at Columbia Harbour House and dinner at Raglan Road ... stay tuned!

 

[MrsB1228]

Forgot to mention that our meal at Tokyo Dining used 2 table service credits and if paying out of pocket would have cost $74.23 before tip.

 

[MrsB1228]

Day 2 started out in the Magic Kingdom where we arrived just after rope drop. We headed to Liberty Square as I wanted to try one of the new waffle sandwiches I've heard so much about. We chose the Nutella & Fresh Fruit waffle sandwich to split between us. This is my half.

WOW, this was delicious!! DH and I both loved it. I was rather surprised I enjoyed this so much as I'm not a fan of Nutella but the combination of the hot, malt flavoured waffle, the fresh berries, bananas and the warm, melting Nutella was truly heavenly. I was wishing we'd each gotten one of our own, but we were saving room for lunch at Columbia Harbour House, LOL.

This isn't available as a snack credit, so this was an OOP purchase. Along with the waffle sandwich, DH got a chocolate milk and I got a french vanilla iced coffee. The total for our breakfast came to $13.60.

 

[sushi candy]

Wow that waffle looks amazing, Carol! You reminded me how much I miss the mushroom filet at Le Cellier,

 

[MrsB1228]

Wow that waffle looks amazing, Carol! You reminded me how much I miss the mushroom filet at Le Cellier,

Hi Rosey! That waffle was amazing, I was truly surprised by how delicious it was. I kept trying to distract DH so I could grab his but he wasn't having it.

Mmmm ... the mushroom filet at Le Cellier occupies a very special place in my heart. I'm sure there are other delicious entrees on their menu but I can't ever bring myself to order anything else.

 

[SweetSpot]

We didn't want anything too big as we had an 11:30 ADR for Le Cellier so we decided to split a serving of Croissant Berry Pudding. Now I've heard some amazing things about this here on the DIS, but I have to say we were very disappointed with it. It was only lukewarm, dry and virtually tasteless. It would have benefitted greatly if it was served with some kind of sauce, but I didn't see any at the station where we ordered it and I didn't think to grab any syrup. We only had a few bites and then trashed the rest. Anyone out there who has tried this and loved it, can you tell me what I'm missing? Is there a berry sauce or something that should go with it or did we just get a bad batch?

It even looks dry.

This gets a 2/5. It wasn't good at all and I don't think I'd try it again. It wasn't worth the money or the calories.

I agree with you on the Croissant Berry Pudding. I was also so disappointed after all the great reviews. My DH and I were going to split it but instead threw it out because it was so dry and tasteless. If it had a vanilla sauce it could have been really good. But Le Cellier saved the day. I'm so happy you enjoyed your meal and look forward to your reviews.

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi Carol!!! I'm excited to be joining in as you have some great places that you ate. Yak & Yeti twice - someone must like this!!! And I'm a new fan of this place.

Sorry that the croissant bread pudding from Sunshine Seasons wasn't good. It does look pretty dry in the photo. But heck, a nice mushroom filet is a great remedy.

You were so sensible to split the fruit/nutella waffle since they are so large. I tried nutella for the first time recently and have to say that it wasn't bad.

Congratulations on 30 years of marriage!!!

 

[MrsB1228]

I agree with you on the Croissant Berry Pudding. I was also so disappointed after all the great reviews. My DH and I were going to split it but instead threw it out because it was so dry and tasteless. If it had a vanilla sauce it could have been really good. But Le Cellier saved the day. I'm so happy you enjoyed your meal and look forward to your reviews.

I'm glad I'm not the only one not wowed by this but sorry you and your DH had the same experience we did. I totally agree it would have been much better with some vanilla sauce. Oh well, not eating it meant I had plenty of room for steak!

Thanks for reading along!

 

[MrsB1228]

Hi Carol!!! I'm excited to be joining in as you have some great places that you ate. Yak & Yeti twice - someone must like this!!! And I'm a new fan of this place.

Sorry that the croissant bread pudding from Sunshine Seasons wasn't good. It does look pretty dry in the photo. But heck, a nice mushroom filet is a great remedy.

You were so sensible to split the fruit/nutella waffle since they are so large. I tried nutella for the first time recently and have to say that it wasn't bad.

Congratulations on 30 years of marriage!!!

Hi Brenda, and thanks so much for the good wishes! Yak & Yeti is one of DH's absolute favourite places. We actually had an ADR at 50's Prime Time that we cancelled because we decided we just weren't excited about going there this time around. Hubby voted for Y&Y instead, even knowing we had another ADR for later in the trip.

Yes, the mushroom filet more than made up for the disappointing bread pudding. After my first heavenly bite, the pudding was but a distant memory, LOL!

I'm still dreaming about that waffle ...

Thanks for joining in!

 

[jecskc]

Loving your reviews !!! Looking forward to more !!

 

[partyof2]

I'm glad to hear that LC let you sub fries, it's something I've been worrying about. I'm dying to sample the risotto but boyfriend would rather fries.

Looking forward to more of your reviews.

 

[MrsB1228]

Loving your reviews !!! Looking forward to more !!

Thank you so much! More coming up!

I'm glad to hear that LC let you sub fries, it's something I've been worrying about. I'm dying to sample the risotto but boyfriend would rather fries.

Looking forward to more of your reviews.

LC is great about substitutions, they were more than happy to accommodate DH's requests to sub the risotto as well as serve the sauce on the side. The last time our son travelled with us, they even made the filet with their maple bbq sauce instead of the truffle butter sauce. This was the way it was served a number of years ago and it's DS's favourite so they did it for him. They also made a frozen cappuccino for me, even though it was no longer on the menu.