Diary of a Picky Kid (& his Foodie Mom) DxDDP in December! Update 4/9 'Ohana Dinner!

[Vernie822]

Ooh, glad you liked Biergarten! We ate there recently for the first time. I think I should've tried more than I did, because those pickles sound amaaaazing. I really loved that Bavarian cheesecake too, soooo good.

 

[MamaMeggie]

I'm really beginning to regret not scheduling a meal at California Grill for our trip, it sounds so amazing!

Thanks for all the great reviews, I've really been enjoying them. So fun to read!

 

[Lisa F]

Well, now I am feeling sad that we don't have a Biergarten ADR planned for our July trip! Ah well, there is always a "next time," right?

Yes there is always another trip! Maybe you can squeeze it in somewhere... it's easy to get the ADR but the stomach space is another thing. People say it's a very heavy meal but half of my plate both times were salads so it was not so bad (well maybe a bit less than half lol). Honestly there were so many things I did NOT try, I want to try some other salads too next time I'm there but I love beets and I love cucumbers!

HA! The first time we went to Biergarten we about fell off our chairs when the liters of beer showed up. The schnitzel really is delicious, too. I've never had better anywhere.

Kakigori is going on my list for June! I can't believe I have yet to try some!

Lol it was kind of a little embarrassing. In the family who sat with us, the father was a REALLY big guy and he got a liter of beer. When it showed up the look on the grandparents' face was kind of funny. I wondered what they thought about me getting one, lol. It seemed not so bad... I mean I've had two of the half liter cans in one day but I probably was nursing them over a whole afternoon not a single meal. It's so good though! lol.

Kakigori is just shaved ice with syrup, so nothing ground breaking, but when it is hot out it is good and the nice thing is they do give you plenty of syrup for the amount of shaved ice (who the heck likes to eat something like that and end up with plain ice halfway through??? how many times has that happened!) I liked the rainbow very much because I was able to switch off between flavors and not get too sick of any, it is truly a massive portion of shaved ice (I think that is a heaping pint cup).

Yep...I plan too! Just really busy and now have another trip on the horizon because Skye's Dance team is dancing in Universal and on a cruise so of course being THAT close we cannot not stop in at The Mouse for a while! So I am trying to work all that out and stressing over there not being much planning or info out for Universal! And I was just told that to travel to Nassau you now need passports! You didn't 20 years ago, which was the last time I was there! And of course none of us have a passport so I am stressing out over that!

Needless to say, we will be hitting Disney before for 5 nights WITH DELUXE DINING and then three nights after (over 4th of July) with no plan but eating table services like we want to. I'm gonna start a pre-trip on that soon!

Wow yes you have a lot on your plate. My next trip is Feb of 2018 so I have time to review every delicious moment of this one before really turning my attention to my next trip but I already have 3 separate ADR plans to choose between, lol. Are you doing a Disney cruise? We're doing a 4 night Dream on our next vacation too!

I love this report! You are such a talented writer. The details you give on each dish are so descriptive and seriously helpful! I love how you delve into the flavors, textures, and why you guys did or did not like something. Also the descriptors re: the atmosphere is fab...makes me feel like I'm in the restaurant! As a Disney newbie all that is such great info and it's entertaining to read! Can't wait for more!!

Aw that is very sweet of you. I think mostly I just talk too much, lol. I type very quickly so it enables me to just talk talk talk. I love to cook too so I'm always thinking about what makes things good and how to translate it to my own stuff! Usually the answer is just "salt and fat" in a restaurant though, lol.

Ooh, glad you liked Biergarten! We ate there recently for the first time. I think I should've tried more than I did, because those pickles sound amaaaazing. I really loved that Bavarian cheesecake too, soooo good.

I felt like I should have tried more than I did too but I loved the cucumbers and beets so much I got more on my second round... but there must have been another 7-10 salads I did NOT try and a ton of hot stuff I didn't try either. I mean there is SO much variety on this buffet, I can't imagine people would not find something they like... but honestly the grandparents who were our tablemates did NOT like the food there at all. They were lovely southern folk who appeared to have very plain tastes and were just not into the whole German thing. I suggested to the grandpa that he try the roast chicken but by then he had tried enough things that he didn't like that he was just done. The grandma told me that this is just not their kind of food. I felt a little bad for them but the parents and kids enjoyed it all! I know BF would not have liked half of what was on my plate - he does not eat salmon and "any vegetable that bleeds" and can take or leave pickles but he still would have found plenty to eat.

I'm not sure I've ever had bavarian cheesecake before but I do love me a good cheesecake and not sure I ever met one I didn't like... I just usually find them too rich to eat more than a few bites but honestly I probably could have eaten another one of these, it was so light... but our tablemates had already vacated the table and I know they wanted to clean up, lol. I am kind of a slow eater and was lagging behind the rest of our table. That is what I love about buffet desserts though, they are often the perfect little serving of dessert for me without feeling wasteful.

I'm really beginning to regret not scheduling a meal at California Grill for our trip, it sounds so amazing!

Thanks for all the great reviews, I've really been enjoying them. So fun to read!

I should probably take it down a notch, lol. Someone is going to go based on my review and have a bad meal and then I'm gonna feel guilty. Make sure you get Jenny O for your server and your chances go up for a great meal though! Thanks for following along, it is fun to share with others!

 

[FrancoFun]

Yes there is always another trip! Maybe you can squeeze it in somewhere... it's easy to get the ADR but the stomach space is another thing. People say it's a very heavy meal but half of my plate both times were salads so it was not so bad (well maybe a bit less than half lol). Honestly there were so many things I did NOT try, I want to try some other salads too next time I'm there but I love beets and I love cucumbers!

Yes, I fell like it will be stomach space that we'll be lacking! We have two Epcot days planned. One with TeppanEdo supper, the other with Garden Grill breakfast and then supper out of the park at Raglan Road in DS (my son is an Irish dancer, so we have to go!) My wife and I have already started chatting about more Disnety (cruise for 2018 and then back to the parks for 2020, I believe), so it will be good to have something to look forward to.

 

[Lisa F]

Yes, I fell like it will be stomach space that we'll be lacking! We have two Epcot days planned. One with TeppanEdo supper, the other with Garden Grill breakfast and then supper out of the park at Raglan Road in DS (my son is an Irish dancer, so we have to go!) My wife and I have already started chatting about more Disnety (cruise for 2018 and then back to the parks for 2020, I believe), so it will be good to have something to look forward to.

I found that I was able to do 2 big meals at Epcot on a day but they were spaced nearly 7 hours apart. I will address that more in my wrap up and summary of my thoughts on the DxDDP. It is true, there is always next time. We are doing a cruise in 2018 too but I booked a 4 day with some parks time before and after... we don't go very often (every 2 years or so although our 2018 cruise will be not much more than a year later than our trip in 2016 because of how late in 2016 we took the trip vs. how early in 2018) and I can't bear the thought of waiting 4 years to go back to the parks. Now I'm going to have to narrow down my meals for 2 full and 2 half park days not sure how I'm going to manage that honestly but kiddo has requested Biergarten for one of our Epcot days... I am thinking of doing the same schedule for our full epcot day with an 11:30ish lunch and 6:30ish dinner at Biergarten, but swapping out Le Cellier for Coral Reef.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

No, it's not Disney...I believe it's Princess...Disney Cruises are way too expensive for our team! LOL

She actually got some really good deals and the whole 6 night ordeal is costing less than what I priced just the same three nights at Portofino Bay with 2 day park to pars tickets (which is what the trip includes through the team) would have been! YIKES!!!

But that's why we can sneak Disney in there...I can't even imagine being that close and not there!

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

Lol it was kind of a little embarrassing. In the family who sat with us, the father was a REALLY big guy and he got a liter of beer. When it showed up the look on the grandparents' face was kind of funny. I wondered what they thought about me getting one, lol. It seemed not so bad... I mean I've had two of the half liter cans in one day but I probably was nursing them over a whole afternoon not a single meal. It's so good though! lol.

I always get the grapefruit beer and when I get the big one it feels lighter. Or so I tell myself.

Of course, the last time I had one I left lunch and went back to the resort for a nap.

Kakigori is just shaved ice with syrup, so nothing ground breaking, but when it is hot out it is good and the nice thing is they do give you plenty of syrup for the amount of shaved ice (who the heck likes to eat something like that and end up with plain ice halfway through??? how many times has that happened!) I liked the rainbow very much because I was able to switch off between flavors and not get too sick of any, it is truly a massive portion of shaved ice (I think that is a heaping pint cup).

yes, I love all of Disney's ice related things! Slushes, margaritas, those Minute Maid lemonade things...it's long past time I tried this one!

 

[ariane37]

another disboards member was traveling solo with her son and our sons really hit it off at the dessert party so we exchanged phone numbers and met up a whole bunch of times

That is so great! I've loved the Dismeets I've had so far, although none have had boys for my boys. However being solo with your DS I'm sure meeting up with the other mom and her DS was a nice little break for you in addition to giving you another adult to hang with

Anyway because of time spent consuming kakigori, we unfortunately got to the voices of liberty a little late and got in as they were already singing their first song but here is a shot, I love their holiday costumes:

First, I need to have my kids try kakigori the next time we take them. I take note of it every time we walk by but they don't and for some reason I've never suggested it. They do like the raspberry slushes from Morocco, though. Second, weren't the VoL holiday costumes beautiful? I'm so glad we caught them in Nov.

fuzzy zoomed in pic of EJO:

I do like Edward, but he looks old in this picture and that makes ME feel old........

This was great dipped into the soup of the day, which was a beer cheese soup.

Also I tried the spaetzle

but the bavarian cheesecake was phenomenal.

Mmmm, all those things are making me remember what I liked about Biergarten! It's been quite some time since we've been, my boys weren't big fans although my oldest was still in his picky stage then (MUCH pickier than your DS), and I think he's like it better now. I also enjoy the show, I'm half German on my moms side. I'm glad you guys had a great experience! I also think it helps when your tablemates are pleasant

 

[nco91590]

Ha! Those housemade pickles were basically all I remember from Biergarten last year. Probably due to the giant beer steins that accompanied our dinner lol.

 

[Lisa F]

No, it's not Disney...I believe it's Princess...Disney Cruises are way too expensive for our team! LOL

She actually got some really good deals and the whole 6 night ordeal is costing less than what I priced just the same three nights at Portofino Bay with 2 day park to pars tickets (which is what the trip includes through the team) would have been! YIKES!!!

But that's why we can sneak Disney in there...I can't even imagine being that close and not there!

Yeah Disney is SUPER pricey. I used to go a lot with my ex before it got crazy expensive and you when you could get an inside cabin 7 night cruise in the off season for $1200 for two, so I am castaway club gold, but I have not sailed since the second repositioning cruise in 2005 when they brought whatever ship it was (magic or wonder) back to the east coast through the panama canal. I am kind of horrified at the prices now and since it is just me and the kiddo I have to pay adult fare for him. I had an 8 night bahamian out of NY booked and it was almost $4,000 (which is a lot for me, I own DVC and kind of piece my vacations together through bonuses and rewards and saving for 2 years etc) and I was just feeling not very good about it so I ended up switching to a 4 night Dream at half the price. It is M-F and I am thinking we will do the same schedule we did before - fly in super early Friday morning and fly out the following Saturday around mid-day. It worked out great. That will give us half of Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the parks, a nice character breakfast on Monday morning then we'll head to the port aiming to be there around noon and do the cruise then get off the ship as early as possible on Friday (I am thinking we are going to rent a car for the whole time just because I hate buses in general and do not want to spend precious parks time waiting on Disney transport)... then drive over to BWV and check in real quick and go to Epcot for the day our last day. I have thought a lot about that and that is all set - REALLY hoping to get the Poly (or BLT as a backup) for the first part of the stay but it is at the tail end of winter break for the kids who have it, which means a busier time. Our winter break is the week after everyone else's, which helps. My backup is BLT as there are tons more rooms there so hopefully I can stay at either of those resorts for the first part of the stay.

Really I am struggling (and the struggle is REAL) to figure out dining. There will be a lot of food on the cruise so I might not feel like eating much the last day and it might be good to just grab some CS at Epcot. Not sure though.

If we do DxDDP for the first half we'd have 9 TS credits a piece to use and I was thinking:

Day 1: MK, snacks... CA Grill Dinner (2TS)
Day 2: Epcot, lunch @ Le Cellier (2TS)
Dinner at Biergarten (1TS) (basically a carbon copy of our perfect rope drop to close Epcot day subbing Le Cellier for
Day 3: MK, PPO BoG breakfast 8am (we can eat kind of light for this and get right on the 7DMT) (1CS)
Crystal Palace OR SC lunch (1TS) - leaning more toward CP even though the food is not as good 1) for characters and 2) because, weird as this sounds, I am less likely to overeat at a buffet than 3 courses at a sit down restaurant.
BoG dinner @6pm (1TS)
Day 4: Chef Mickey's breakfast (1TS)
a little weird doing BoG twice in one day but a friend of mine did it for PPO and said it felt much more rushed and just "getting some food in before the rides" versus a much more relaxed dinner... one is strategic, one is about the food.

or maybe just do regular DDP and skip the signatures since we'll be eating so much on the ship and do:
Day 1: MK, snacks BoG dinner
Day 2: Sunshine Seasons lunch, Tangierine Cafe dinner
Day 3: BoG PPO breakfast, 'Ohana dinner
Day 4: Chef Mickey's breakfast

and then on our last epcot day maybe buy DxDDP for 1 day and do the le cellier lunch/ biergarten dinner thing (that will take all 3 credits for 1 night).

Or just go OOP and have maximum flexibility to do whatever we want... but it seems like there is one more shot to pay for kiddo as a kid under DxDDP and I want to work it, lol.

Oh the agony of planning but I figure if I can't go off the rails into OT land on my own post, where can I? lol

I always get the grapefruit beer and when I get the big one it feels lighter. Or so I tell myself.

Of course, the last time I had one I left lunch and went back to the resort for a nap.



yes, I love all of Disney's ice related things! Slushes, margaritas, those Minute Maid lemonade things...it's long past time I tried this one!

haha I bought the grapefruit beer locally and the guy checking me out was like "enjoy your SODA." it is very low alcohol but so delicious. I have found that it pairs AMAZINGLY with buffalo wings for some reason.

we were so tired by then I could have just gone to sleep but we still had FEA and Illuminations, so we pushed through!

Yeah I gravitate toward the icy things when it is so hot and humid out! they hit the spot for sure! But I did not feel like having booze in any of them, maybe because I was afraid of being woozy in the heat.

That is so great! I've loved the Dismeets I've had so far, although none have had boys for my boys. However being solo with your DS I'm sure meeting up with the other mom and her DS was a nice little break for you in addition to giving you another adult to hang with

It was TRULY magical... our kids are similar with similar interests and hit it off and it was nice for him to spend some time with another kid his age. Both only children too so it worked out well. it's not often that you find a solo mom with a kid who hits it off so well with yours! But the bad part is it was super rough saying goodbye

First, I need to have my kids try kakigori the next time we take them. I take note of it every time we walk by but they don't and for some reason I've never suggested it. They do like the raspberry slushes from Morocco, though. Second, weren't the VoL holiday costumes beautiful? I'm so glad we caught them in Nov.

It is hard not to like it. I do think I had it once like a decade ago. Did they used to serve them in paper cones? or am I misremembering? lol. Anyway there is nothing exotic about it, it's basically a snowcone. Super refreshing on a hot day and like I said I loved that they were not cheap on the syrup and it had flavor the whole way through... which is my problem with snowcones usually. but it did make it more sad to pitch the remainder knowing it was still yummy!

I do like Edward, but he looks old in this picture and that makes ME feel old........

yeah, I have a photo of him doing it from somewhere between 12-15 years ago... It was when he was in battlestar galactica... but I can't find it for the life of me. so in a stream of consciousness style I JUST found an old "disney" folder in my photobucket (where I have been uploading my food porn) and I found it! Wish I could figure out a time stamp on this photo, maybe if I download it!

apparently NPH hasn't aged a minute though because I found this from around the same time... this is why I never get excited about NPH. I like him well enough but BTDT before he was the hot ticket at the CP.

and here is a picture of the chocolate wave, we must have done the CP package with Coral Reef then too! See, it used to be served with vanilla ice cream, which is my preference, and I do believe it had the liquidy center here:

lol I am nothing if not consistent!

Mmmm, all those things are making me remember what I liked about Biergarten! It's been quite some time since we've been, my boys weren't big fans although my oldest was still in his picky stage then (MUCH pickier than your DS), and I think he's like it better now. I also enjoy the show, I'm half German on my moms side. I'm glad you guys had a great experience! I also think it helps when your tablemates are pleasant

I'm half German on my dad's side and kiddo's dad is full german jewish on both sides of his family. I joke with him that of course he has a hard time being flexible, he is 3/4 German! he told them that at school and they thought it was the funniest thing ever. The thing about my kiddo's pickiness is that it is not entirely along "typical" kid lines as far as what he likes and what he doesn't like. he has always liked hummus (it was the only protein I could get in him for a while, he would not eat any of the ground baby meats at all so I gave him a spoonful of garlic hummus and he loved it!), he does NOT like nuggets (formed) but he does like real chicken. So that stuff did open up some possibilities for him early on. In 2014 in Disney we could do any buffet that had rolls, some kind of mac and cheese or plain pasta and carved meats and he'd be ok. I just don't like the dinner buffets THAT much myself... except biergarten. I was a little surprised by how much he likes it but fried chicken cutlets that I make at home are one of his favorite things, so is genoa salami (I buy it VERY infrequently and put a couple of slices on a sandwich with mostly turkey) and he does love plain chicken... I mean this really just hit all of his high notes and he has not yet met a mac and cheese he hasn't loved no matter how fancy or plain... you'd think he'd be weird about that given his texture stuff but he is not.

It definitely helps when your tablemates are pleasant, that's for sure. We'll roll the dice again!

Ha! Those housemade pickles were basically all I remember from Biergarten last year. Probably due to the giant beer steins that accompanied our dinner lol.

haha yeah that could do it. I have heard others mention the pickles, next time I'm gonna take care of number 1 and make sure I take ALL THE PICKLES ON THE BUFFET, especially if there are only a few left floating in brine, lol.

 

[MamaMeggie]

I should probably take it down a notch, lol. Someone is going to go based on my review and have a bad meal and then I'm gonna feel guilty. Make sure you get Jenny O for your server and your chances go up for a great meal though! Thanks for following along, it is fun to share with others![/QUOTE]
No, I've read lots of glowing reviews! I don't think I'll be able to fit it on this trip - although feel free to critique my choices in my PTR. I'm just hoping to convince DH that we need to make one more trip once Star Wars land is open. My kids will be pretty much beyond character meals by then and we might get to schedule a signature.
One thing I'm not going to skip is a grapefruit beer, though!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Yeah Disney is SUPER pricey. I used to go a lot with my ex before it got crazy expensive and you when you could get an inside cabin 7 night cruise in the off season for $1200 for two, so I am castaway club gold, but I have not sailed since the second repositioning cruise in 2005 when they brought whatever ship it was (magic or wonder) back to the east coast through the panama canal. I am kind of horrified at the prices now and since it is just me and the kiddo I have to pay adult fare for him. I had an 8 night bahamian out of NY booked and it was almost $4,000 (which is a lot for me, I own DVC and kind of piece my vacations together through bonuses and rewards and saving for 2 years etc) and I was just feeling not very good about it so I ended up switching to a 4 night Dream at half the price. It is M-F and I am thinking we will do the same schedule we did before - fly in super early Friday morning and fly out the following Saturday around mid-day. It worked out great. That will give us half of Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the parks, a nice character breakfast on Monday morning then we'll head to the port aiming to be there around noon and do the cruise then get off the ship as early as possible on Friday (I am thinking we are going to rent a car for the whole time just because I hate buses in general and do not want to spend precious parks time waiting on Disney transport)... then drive over to BWV and check in real quick and go to Epcot for the day our last day. I have thought a lot about that and that is all set - REALLY hoping to get the Poly (or BLT as a backup) for the first part of the stay but it is at the tail end of winter break for the kids who have it, which means a busier time. Our winter break is the week after everyone else's, which helps. My backup is BLT as there are tons more rooms there so hopefully I can stay at either of those resorts for the first part of the stay.

Really I am struggling (and the struggle is REAL) to figure out dining. There will be a lot of food on the cruise so I might not feel like eating much the last day and it might be good to just grab some CS at Epcot. Not sure though.

If we do DxDDP for the first half we'd have 9 TS credits a piece to use and I was thinking:

Day 1: MK, snacks... CA Grill Dinner (2TS)
Day 2: Epcot, lunch @ Le Cellier (2TS)
Dinner at Biergarten (1TS) (basically a carbon copy of our perfect rope drop to close Epcot day subbing Le Cellier for
Day 3: MK, PPO BoG breakfast 8am (we can eat kind of light for this and get right on the 7DMT) (1CS)
Crystal Palace OR SC lunch (1TS) - leaning more toward CP even though the food is not as good 1) for characters and 2) because, weird as this sounds, I am less likely to overeat at a buffet than 3 courses at a sit down restaurant.
BoG dinner @6pm (1TS)
Day 4: Chef Mickey's breakfast (1TS)
a little weird doing BoG twice in one day but a friend of mine did it for PPO and said it felt much more rushed and just "getting some food in before the rides" versus a much more relaxed dinner... one is strategic, one is about the food.

or maybe just do regular DDP and skip the signatures since we'll be eating so much on the ship and do:
Day 1: MK, snacks BoG dinner
Day 2: Sunshine Seasons lunch, Tangierine Cafe dinner
Day 3: BoG PPO breakfast, 'Ohana dinner
Day 4: Chef Mickey's breakfast

and then on our last epcot day maybe buy DxDDP for 1 day and do the le cellier lunch/ biergarten dinner thing (that will take all 3 credits for 1 night).

Or just go OOP and have maximum flexibility to do whatever we want... but it seems like there is one more shot to pay for kiddo as a kid under DxDDP and I want to work it, lol.

Oh the agony of planning but I figure if I can't go off the rails into OT land on my own post, where can I? lol

Isn't it funny...I can't plan dinner at home for the week but I have already planned and booked for 6 months form now!

We are planning deluxe for the first 5 nights at All Star Movies. I tried to plan it out going to the places we wanted to go and paying out of pocket (cash or gift cards) but then I started looking at menus and what we would want and started seeing that we'd be probably be paying about as much per day as the dining plan costs and that was without the mugs (which we do use so they do have value for us) and two extra snacks. So it just makes sense to me to do the plan. That way everyone gets what they want (and then some sometimes) and I can relax.

We check into Portofino Bay on June 26th but most everyone else will be flying/driving in that day so arriving all over the place so I figure we will take our time getting over there. We don't have tickets for anywhere for this day so I am thinking Disney Springs and then check in mid afternoon. The next day the girls will have a class and performance at Universal probably sometime during the day and then the rest of the night and the next day are ours. I figure we will mostly be eating counter service there.

On the 29th we head to board the boat. Not sure what she has planned for transportation yet but I assume it will be early. And we will be eating well for those three days.

In July 2 we head back to Disney. There are a few others going that way too so not sure about transportation here either but hoping to arrive back to Disney early afternoon and stay at Port Orleans French Quarter for three nights with no dining plan. BUT...we are planning on eating...however, like you, I did think that we may be eating a lot on the cruise so we may not want to eat as much (who am I kidding!) so no dining plan.

I have booked ...

June 21 (W) Skipper Canteen @ 11:30am
California Grill @ 7:05pm
June 22 (Th) Teppan Edo @ 12:00pm
Flying Fish @ 7:00pm
June 23 (F) Be Our Guest @ 11:05pm (which I am not crazy about so may not keep)
The BOATHOUSE @ 7:30pm
June 24 (Sa) Mama Melrose @ 11:30pm (Fantasmic Package but we may not use it)
Narcoossee's @ 6:40pm
June 25 (Su) Tiffins @ 11:30am
Jiko @ 6:30pm
June 26 (M) Planet Hollywood @ 12:00pm (out of pocket unless we decide not to do BOG)

July 2 (Su) Homecoming @7:00pm
July 3 (M) Kona @ 12:05pm
Via Napoli @ 7:10pm
July 4 (Tu) Tuskerhouse @ 10:50am
Yak & Yeti @ 6:45pm
July 5 (W) STK @ 1:30pm

Unfortunatly, I haven't seen a completed 2017 Dining Plan list yet so some of the ones I am planning on using it at may not be on it this year ... always that risk but I'll rearrange if they aren't. And believe it or not, I had a really hard time narrowing it down to just 10 days of dining! We have been at two weeks the last bunch of times we have gone on the plan so I could pretty much go everywhere, just needed to figure out where to put it. And we are only getting 7 day hoppers. Normally Skye would share or order off the kids menu so we'd have extra credits and we'd be doing more breakfasts too but since we have less time in parks and we want to be able to get up and get riding, we didn't want to do breakfasts. And there are so many good looking new things.


Skipper Canteen
Lunch at Be Our Guest
The BOATHOUSE
Tiffins
The NEW Planet Hollywood
Homecoming
STK

Will all be new for us. We have 149 more days and to tell you the truth I did ADRs one day at a time at 180 days and have changed them around about 4 times already!


WOW... I think I just posted the beginning of my Pre-Trip Report on your Dining Report...sorry! LOL

 

[Lisa F]

Isn't it funny...I can't plan dinner at home for the week but I have already planned and booked for 6 months form now!

We are planning deluxe for the first 5 nights at All Star Movies. I tried to plan it out going to the places we wanted to go and paying out of pocket (cash or gift cards) but then I started looking at menus and what we would want and started seeing that we'd be probably be paying about as much per day as the dining plan costs and that was without the mugs (which we do use so they do have value for us) and two extra snacks. So it just makes sense to me to do the plan. That way everyone gets what they want (and then some sometimes) and I can relax.

We check into Portofino Bay on June 26th but most everyone else will be flying/driving in that day so arriving all over the place so I figure we will take our time getting over there. We don't have tickets for anywhere for this day so I am thinking Disney Springs and then check in mid afternoon. The next day the girls will have a class and performance at Universal probably sometime during the day and then the rest of the night and the next day are ours. I figure we will mostly be eating counter service there.

On the 29th we head to board the boat. Not sure what she has planned for transportation yet but I assume it will be early. And we will be eating well for those three days.

In July 2 we head back to Disney. There are a few others going that way too so not sure about transportation here either but hoping to arrive back to Disney early afternoon and stay at Port Orleans French Quarter for three nights with no dining plan. BUT...we are planning on eating...however, like you, I did think that we may be eating a lot on the cruise so we may not want to eat as much (who am I kidding!) so no dining plan.

I have booked ...

June 21 (W) Skipper Canteen @ 11:30am
California Grill @ 7:05pm
June 22 (Th) Teppan Edo @ 12:00pm
Flying Fish @ 7:00pm
June 23 (F) Be Our Guest @ 11:05pm (which I am not crazy about so may not keep)
The BOATHOUSE @ 7:30pm
June 24 (Sa) Mama Melrose @ 11:30pm (Fantasmic Package but we may not use it)
Narcoossee's @ 6:40pm
June 25 (Su) Tiffins @ 11:30am
Jiko @ 6:30pm
June 26 (M) Planet Hollywood @ 12:00pm (out of pocket unless we decide not to do BOG)

July 2 (Su) Homecoming @7:00pm
July 3 (M) Kona @ 12:05pm
Via Napoli @ 7:10pm
July 4 (Tu) Tuskerhouse @ 10:50am
Yak & Yeti @ 6:45pm
July 5 (W) STK @ 1:30pm

Unfortunatly, I haven't seen a completed 2017 Dining Plan list yet so some of the ones I am planning on using it at may not be on it this year ... always that risk but I'll rearrange if they aren't. And believe it or not, I had a really hard time narrowing it down to just 10 days of dining! We have been at two weeks the last bunch of times we have gone on the plan so I could pretty much go everywhere, just needed to figure out where to put it. And we are only getting 7 day hoppers. Normally Skye would share or order off the kids menu so we'd have extra credits and we'd be doing more breakfasts too but since we have less time in parks and we want to be able to get up and get riding, we didn't want to do breakfasts. And there are so many good looking new things.


Skipper Canteen
Lunch at Be Our Guest
The BOATHOUSE
Tiffins
The NEW Planet Hollywood
Homecoming
STK

Will all be new for us. We have 149 more days and to tell you the truth I did ADRs one day at a time at 180 days and have changed them around about 4 times already!


WOW... I think I just posted the beginning of my Pre-Trip Report on your Dining Report...sorry! LOL

lol don't mind at all. I love hearing other people's plans. No DS on this trip for us, parks only! not enough time!

 

[CatNipRules]

Hi all,
Well I am back from my first week of December trip and it was a blast. Seriously, it was like someone was sprinkling pixie dust on our trip from beginning to end, our luck was constantly good and things just seemed to go our way.

We did a split stay, one night at AKL Kidani where we paid OOP, 4 nights at BWV where we were on the DxDDP and then 3 nights at the Polynesian villas where we were again OOP. But it felt like the bulk of our trip was DxDDP since we were able to use it over 5 full days.

Here we are on our first day at the MK before the foot pain kicked in feeling positively jubilant about being at WDW:

and a bit about us:

I am a single divorced mom who has owned DVC since 1999 (which I now share with my kiddo's dad, so we get to stay at really nice resorts that I wouldn't be able to afford otherwise). I love Disney (who here doesn't?) and have been going as an adult since 1998 but went a few times before that both with my parents and when I was a junior in high school at 17 (back in 1991). That will figure in later. I used to be a bit of a foodie back in my former life... I LOVE ethnic food as I'm from NYC originally, and I love to try new things... but since I now live on Martha's Vineyard, the ethnic food is not so much here and I love to cook and make a lot of my favorites at home (indian, greek, chinese etc). I did the chef's table at V&A on my honeymoon and then the regular dining room a couple of times after that... and I love a good gourmet meal... which can be challenging now that I am a single mom of a picky child. But if there is any place that can happen, it's at Disney. On our last trip in 2014, CA Grill was a highlight as I was able to have my fancy meal and my child could have his pizza without sauce. I also am not a huge fan of desserts and am very very very difficult to please/wow when it comes to them... so keep that in mind when you read my dessert reviews.

My kiddo is 8 and LOVES Disney too. He can't understand why anyone would ever vacation anywhere else. He is on the spectrum and has some sensory issues and is a pretty picky eater because of it, but has recently gotten really into food network and the kids shows like chopped and baking challenge, which has encouraged him to try new things. On our last trip together in 2014 he ate mac and cheese, pasta with butter and the occasional chicken or corn dog nugget. For breakfast it was mickey waffles and bacon or bust. As you will see, he expanded his palate a bit on this trip from the above list, sometimes not for the better (I'll never forget the day he came home from school SO EXCITED that he tried something new and LIKED IT and it turned out to be maple syrup. um, you love pure sugar? yay? lol.) I am very laid back about trying new things so he is more open to it with no pressure. He did try new things this time and ate (and enjoyed) some things that surprised me. He is sometimes opinionated, sometimes not and sometimes the cleaned plate and shift in mood says more than he will verbalize.

So now that the intros are all done, we can move on to the food. We did no QS, all TS, even during the OOP part of our trip. I kept all of my receipts so I will include prices vs. value on the DxDDP (for that portion of our trip). Also the kiddo has an AP so that put a bit of a dent in our DDP value, I will include what the discounted portion would have been as well as the full price for reference.

Here is the list of our meals. I will make this linkable as I go!

Day 1: arrival day, AKL Kidani, MK
Skipper Canteen Lunch
Sanaa Dinner

Day 2: DxDDP starts, Kidani check out, AK morning EMH and all day, HS at night, BWV check in
Tusker House Breakfast
Yak & Yeti Dunch/Linner
Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! Dessertish Par-TAY

Day 3: DxDDP, HS morning EMH and all day, Epcot at night
Sci-Fi Dine-In Lunch
California Grill dinner

Day 4: DxDDP, Epcot from rope drop to close!
Coral Reef Lunch with CP package
Biergarten Dinner

Day 5: DxDDP, Down Day - Disney springs all day and HS evening
'Ohana breakfast
Hollywood & Vine Minnie's Seasonal Dine w/F! package

Day 6: DxDDP, BWV check out day & Epcot til 3:30, check into Poly & MK
Garden Grill breakfast
Narcoossee's dinner

Day 7: OOP, day off til MVMCP
Boma breakfast
'Ohana Dinner
MVMCP w/Holiday Wishes Dessert Party

Day 8: OOP, MK
Crystal Palace breakfast
Hoop Dee Doo Revue

Day 9: OOP, departure day
Room Service @ Poly breakfast

I talk a lot so be prepared for a lot of chatter and extra photos. If you like that kind of thing, sit back and enjoy. If you don't, feel free to scroll by and enjoy the food porn. Here we go!

Following along. I feel your pain on the picky eater. While my son is not on the spectrum, he has been picky his whole life. My niece is on the spectrum and she is like your son. She has very specific things that she will and won't eat. For her, mac and cheese is a must. I look forward to reading everything!!

 

[xlsm]

Kakigori is a family favorite...I love it best with the sweet milk topping. Growing up, my family made snow ice cream, and it reminds me of that.
I am also a big fan of Voices of Liberty. I love when they sing the words from the Statue of Liberty. I cry.

Biergarten is one of those places I'm on the fence about.

The ambiance is amazing! I love the band. And we had probably the best server I've ever had in my life, and she was new and it was her first day alone at the tables without her trainer. That's probably why she was so great, lol!! That was in July 2015, and it was our first visit there. We did it for DH's bday. He loved it, and my youngest loved it. My oldest son and I were happy with it, but he was disappointed in the pretzel rolls. He LOVES them, and the first ones he had were cold and hard and dry. Right near the end of our meal, I noticed they'd put out new ones and got him one...it was amazing, but he was so disappointed it took so long to get a good, fresh one.
I was also very underwhelmed with the desserts there...not their strong suit.

But...the cold salads/pickles were outstanding - I agree! I also enjoyed the schnitzel, which surprised me.

It's a restaurant that the farther I'm removed from the experience, the more I look back on it fondly. I will probably take my mom there in October, I think it will be right up her alley.

I love that you guys had great tablemates and your son could get his Pokemon fix. We played a lot of Pokemon Go in December, too (I don't want to brag, but I have quite a Slobro army now - haha!)

 

[Tinkerbell_Girl]

I just read your review on Biergarten and in all my trips to Disney, I've never eaten there. This was requested by my FIL for our family trip in June and now I'm so excited to eat there!

 

[pepperandchips]

Thanks a lot, Lisa. Now I am trying to figure out how to rearrange things on my march trip to try Biergarten when I go down with a girlfriend. She loves biergarten and all things German but Biergarten's menu has never appealed to me until I read your review... Sounds like a lot of things I would enjoy.

I loved the "vintage" NPH, EJO and Coral Reef photos. Those are fun for a now and then comparison!!!

 

[Lisa F]

Following along. I feel your pain on the picky eater. While my son is not on the spectrum, he has been picky his whole life. My niece is on the spectrum and she is like your son. She has very specific things that she will and won't eat. For her, mac and cheese is a must. I look forward to reading everything!!

He has gotten a whole lot better. There was a time he would not touch something like meatloaf with a 10 foot pole but a while ago I tried Ina Garten's turkey meatloaf (which is also basically healthy). It has real onions in it but he was able to identify for me that he could not stand the texture of the onions but otherwise liked the flavor. You sautee onions and mix with a little tomato paste, garlic, worcestershire sauce and chicken broth to make a flavor compound basically and since I started hitting that with a stick blender into a puree, he devours them. We are having some of those tonight

I am more sympathetic to picky eaters now than I was before I had a child. In fact, I was the most amazeballs parent EVER before I had my son, lol. Having gone through the torture of trying to take the hard line with my son on food, I just kind of feel like kids should not be forced to eat stuff. I tend to to 20 rounds with people on it too (so sorry if I am offending anyone here) but I really feel like kids have all reasons for being picky and it's better to let them come to their likes naturally than force them to eat stuff they hate. It just seems to me anecdotally speaking that a lot of kids who are picky but allowed to find their own way eventually find their way to veggie and salads etc. Kids who are forced into it early seem more likely to develop a lifelong aversion. I am looking at the long game here. Kids who eat it and like it are a different story all together of course.

Kakigori is a family favorite...I love it best with the sweet milk topping. Growing up, my family made snow ice cream, and it reminds me of that.
I am also a big fan of Voices of Liberty. I love when they sing the words from the Statue of Liberty. I cry.

Biergarten is one of those places I'm on the fence about.

The ambiance is amazing! I love the band. And we had probably the best server I've ever had in my life, and she was new and it was her first day alone at the tables without her trainer. That's probably why she was so great, lol!! That was in July 2015, and it was our first visit there. We did it for DH's bday. He loved it, and my youngest loved it. My oldest son and I were happy with it, but he was disappointed in the pretzel rolls. He LOVES them, and the first ones he had were cold and hard and dry. Right near the end of our meal, I noticed they'd put out new ones and got him one...it was amazing, but he was so disappointed it took so long to get a good, fresh one.
I was also very underwhelmed with the desserts there...not their strong suit.

But...the cold salads/pickles were outstanding - I agree! I also enjoyed the schnitzel, which surprised me.

It's a restaurant that the farther I'm removed from the experience, the more I look back on it fondly. I will probably take my mom there in October, I think it will be right up her alley.

I love that you guys had great tablemates and your son could get his Pokemon fix. We played a lot of Pokemon Go in December, too (I don't want to brag, but I have quite a Slobro army now - haha!)

I think I would love the sweet milk kind, it sounds right up my alley. I have never had it!

I think the rolls were fine, especially dipped in the soup. And not really being a dessert person, if I find one thing I love it works for me... and I loved the cheesecake. I didn't care much that not much else appealed, lol.

I think it is also a very specific type of food and flavor profile... either you like it or you don't. What I had was very well done and the schnitzel would probably be a universal hit (except for vegetarians/vegans) but the salads are definitely a taste thing... I happen to love that kind of stuff but it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

OMG there were a few majorly dramatic moments when a slowpoke ran away as he needed only ONE more to make the slobro. Finally he got it and it was a HALLELUJAH moment.

I just read your review on Biergarten and in all my trips to Disney, I've never eaten there. This was requested by my FIL for our family trip in June and now I'm so excited to eat there!

There are actually a lot of good reviews on it. Still... I never went myself either!

Thanks a lot, Lisa. Now I am trying to figure out how to rearrange things on my march trip to try Biergarten when I go down with a girlfriend. She loves biergarten and all things German but Biergarten's menu has never appealed to me until I read your review... Sounds like a lot of things I would enjoy.

I loved the "vintage" NPH, EJO and Coral Reef photos. Those are fun for a now and then comparison!!!

I think you have to like "that kind of food." I did not have sauerbraten or really anything brown except for that one little roulade, and there were a lot of other meats etc on the buffet that I didn't touch. People say it is a heavy meal but I had a lot of cucumber and the salmon was pretty light as well... so it is possible to eat there without not ending up like you have a lead balloon in your stomach. I mean, I way overate compared to normal life but I did not feel nasty afterwards like the food was too heavy or anything. Give me schnitzel, pickles and other salads and maybe a half a link of a brat and I am a happy girl. Well the mac and cheese was good too. There was really so much variety, I think I did not touch (not counting the salads) 2/3 of what was on the buffet... if I count the salads, there were a lot of them, I just went for my favorites. The question is... when I go back will I go for what I know I love or branch out? hmmmmmm?

It is a fun time and yes, the menu kind of never made my mouth water or anything but I got it in my head that I wanted to experience the theming and atmosphere and that as long as I ended up fed I was cool with whatever. My rule of thumb on a buffet is that it has to be pretty awful to not find something tasty enough to fill you up, even if it's chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes. If it's not good, I will not finish it just because it is on my plate, I'll go try something else. So I figured that as long as I could find one main and one side that was tasty I'd be fine. I loved most things on my plate though! The miracle of low expectations!

Funny that I found those... I just wish I could figure out exactly when they were taken!

 

[CatNipRules]

He has gotten a whole lot better. There was a time he would not touch something like meatloaf with a 10 foot pole but a while ago I tried Ina Garten's turkey meatloaf (which is also basically healthy). It has real onions in it but he was able to identify for me that he could not stand the texture of the onions but otherwise liked the flavor. You sautee onions and mix with a little tomato paste, garlic, worcestershire sauce and chicken broth to make a flavor compound basically and since I started hitting that with a stick blender into a puree, he devours them. We are having some of those tonight

I am more sympathetic to picky eaters now than I was before I had a child. In fact, I was the most amazeballs parent EVER before I had my son, lol. Having gone through the torture of trying to take the hard line with my son on food, I just kind of feel like kids should not be forced to eat stuff. I tend to to 20 rounds with people on it too (so sorry if I am offending anyone here) but I really feel like kids have all reasons for being picky and it's better to let them come to their likes naturally than force them to eat stuff they hate. It just seems to me anecdotally speaking that a lot of kids who are picky but allowed to find their own way eventually find their way to veggie and salads etc. Kids who are forced into it early seem more likely to develop a lifelong aversion. I am looking at the long game here. Kids who eat it and like it are a different story all together of course.

My son is a lot better now that he's older. It was frustrating for me as a mom. Because when I was growing up I would literally eat everything. In fact there are literally only 2 things I won't eat. Brussell Sprouts and Lima Beans. Otherwise I eat everything. That turkey meatloaf sounds amazing. I can't eat shellfish because of severe allergies, but anything else is fair game. He takes after his dad in a lot of way. I have found that to be true. When I stopped fighting him on what he would eat, he has eaten more than he would. In fact the last time we went to Disney he actually ate plantains. Color me shocked. Something else, he love ramen soup. Although without the veggies in it. He says it tastes the flavor. I don't see it, but hey, he's eating something new.

I remember when my son was younger, under 10, he would literally make himself gag. When he was older he told me that he did it on purpose because he knew that I would stop making him eat whatever I was trying to force him to eat. I've become a lot more easy going when it comes to him. Sure, it means he eats a lot of the same things, but hey, he's alive and going strong.

Sorry for rambling. LOL!!

 

[Lisa F]

My son is a lot better now that he's older. It was frustrating for me as a mom. Because when I was growing up I would literally eat everything. In fact there are literally only 2 things I won't eat. Brussell Sprouts and Lima Beans. Otherwise I eat everything. That turkey meatloaf sounds amazing. I can't eat shellfish because of severe allergies, but anything else is fair game. He takes after his dad in a lot of way. I have found that to be true. When I stopped fighting him on what he would eat, he has eaten more than he would. In fact the last time we went to Disney he actually ate plantains. Color me shocked. Something else, he love ramen soup. Although without the veggies in it. He says it tastes the flavor. I don't see it, but hey, he's eating something new.

I remember when my son was younger, under 10, he would literally make himself gag. When he was older he told me that he did it on purpose because he knew that I would stop making him eat whatever I was trying to force him to eat. I've become a lot more easy going when it comes to him. Sure, it means he eats a lot of the same things, but hey, he's alive and going strong.

Sorry for rambling. LOL!!

Never be sorry, I am the queen rambler. And honestly there are days when I feel so alone and like such a failure (well less and less as he gets older and maybe I get older and care less about what others think!) so it's nice to know other parents have been there.

Here is the recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/turkey-meatloaf-recipe.html

I cut it in half by doing 2 20oz packages of turkey, 2 large eggs, 3 tblsp worcestershire, breadcrumbs by eye, lol. Those are the harder to figure out measurements, the rest are easy to halve. 5 lbs of meatloaf is enough to feed an army for a week, it is WAY too much. and I roll them into slightly less than baseball sized balls and stick them in a muffin tray and bake them that way... I don't usually have hours to bake a ginormous meatloaf, the muffins are done in well under an hour. I just puree the onion mixture before mixing it in with my stick blender but it is good without doing that. I use a meat thermometer for all meat in the oven so I could not give you the first clue how long it should take.

I LOVE brussels sprouts but they have to be made the right way... super caramelized on the outside and creamy on the inside. Crunchy is a no-go for me. blech. My boyfriend came up with a stove top potsticker method - put oil and halved sprouts in a huge skillet, add 1/2 inch of water and cover with a lid... steam until tender on the inside then remove the lid and boil the water off and let them start to get caramelized. Add some garlic (I use frozen in cubes, so easy) and cook until lovely and brown on the outside and creamy on the inside. finish with a hit of balsamic vinegar (I am now a balsamic snob, a local place carries 18 year balsamic in wine bottles that is THE BOMB). I bet you would like them that way. It does make your house smell like farts when you take the lid off and check for tenderness though!