EnJOYing free dining during Night of Joy! - Updated 10/18

[brewhome]

Hi, everyone!

My sis and I have come to WDW the past two years for Night of Joy. Last year, we stayed at CB and did not get a dining plan. My sis had not been to WDW in a long time, so we acted like true park commandos and ran around like crazy girls, getting in all the attractions we could. Needless to say, that didn't leave a lot of time to eat a ton, and since we had not planned any ADR's, we just went wherever the proverbial wind took us. We had a few nice sit down meals, but other than that we ate on the go. We enjoyed it, but didn't really get the full experience.

This time, free dining was offered for our travel dates, so we decided to take the deal and this time, slow down and eat our way around the World! We also decided we definitely wanted more cocktails as well! We stayed at POR this trip and really, really enjoyed it. CB was nice last year, but we just liked the vibe and the size of POR much better.

So here's the line up:

9/7 lunch: Pecos Bills at MK
9/7 dinner: Main Street Bakery at MK
9/8 breakfast: Riverside Mill Food Court at POR
9/8 lunch: Wolfgang Puck Cafe at DTD
9/8 dinner: Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe at MK
9/9 lunch: La Cantina de San Angel at EPCOT
9/9 snack: Boulangerie Patisserie at EPCOT
9/9 dinner: Coral Reef at EPCOT
9/10 breakfast: Riverside Mill Food Court at POR
9/10 snack: Hollywood Scoops at HS
9/10 dinner: ESPN Zone at BW
9/11 lunch: Flame Tree BBQ at AK
9/11 dinner: Narcoossee's at GF
9/12 breakfast: Riverside Mill Food Court at POR

I have pics for most of these... including some yummy cocktails! I'm also going to try and figure out what we would have spent if we had not had the dining plan, and compare it to the cost if we would have had to pay for the plan. Writing this dining review will also get me even more excited for my next trip with DH, DS1 (age 12) and DS2 (age 10), which is in January. Can't wait!

 

[brewhome]

Alrighty, let's get started! I don't have any pics for day one of the food, because at lunch time we were too hungry to take a pic, and at dinner time, it was POURING and we didn't even think to!

We arrived at MK around 12:30 and we were starving after an early flight and a long check in process at POR. We made a beeline for Pecos Bill's Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, only to stop and "ooh" at the Cinderella Castle show for just a quick minute. I love seeing Mickey right when we enter the park!! Sis and I decided to split a CS meal: 1/3 lb. deluxe angus cheeseburger topped with bacon, onion rings, and bbq sauce, with fries, carrot cake, and a large soda. This burger was definitely big enough for the two of us to split - and it was really good. The burger was nice and juicy, the onion rings had a good crunch, and the bbq sauce had a little zip. We didn't use the toppings bar for the burger, but it looked good. We did get some cheese sauce to dip the fries in, and there's nothing better than fake, gooey, liquid cheese. I love me some Disney fries, too - nice and piping hot. The carrot cake was sweet, as usual - but a nice ending to the meal. I like Pecos Bills when it's not mobbed - it's a nice place to sit down and cool off.

Cost for lunch, dessert, and drink would have been $17.

At dinner time, it was pouring rain and thundering like mad. Keep in mind that this was the first evening of Night of Joy, and teenagers were streaming into MK to watch the concerts. Every store and restaurant on Main Street was packed, but Sis and I were able to snag a place to stand and eat in Main Street Bakery. There were no tables available and of course people weren't moving! We decided again to split a CS meal: a turkey & cheese sandwich on focaccia bread, an eclair, and a regular soda. The sandwich was tasty! It had a ton of turkey on it and the focaccia was nice and moist. They don't look that big, but when you bite into them, they really do have quite a bit of meat on them. The eclair was delicious, of course - we loved every bite of that. It was a nice, light meal for us before we stood in the rain from 6 pm - 1 am for three great concerts!

Cost for the sandwich, dessert, and drink would have been $14.

So, the total food bill this day would have been only $31, which is definitely not using the dining plan to the max advantage - but we made up for it later! Since we needed to keep our place near the Cinderella Stage for the concerts, we had brought our own snacks in and didn't use any this day.

 

[mommy4allkids]

Great start. More please.