I Can't Believe We Ate the Whole Thing! 15 Nights of DDP with photos...!

[slk537]

I wondered how to title this review thread and thought about all the lovely dinners and lunches and snacks we ingested over a two week period. And how each time we moved resorts, we ended up with no remaining credits. 15 nights worth of TS, CS, and Snack credits and the only thing we didn’t use was two Child TS credits – DS enjoyed his own haute cuisine at the Sandcastle Club while DH and I enjoyed Le Cellier and Yachtsman respectively.

I took photos of almost everything we got – one major exception being Boma. I have seen so many gorgeous photos of Boma food on here that I just sat back and enjoyed that meal.

Before I begin – a few things about us - happy DVCers who enjoyed using the DDP on a long and lovely trip:

Cast:
DH: Loves BBQ, steak, crab legs and Oreo Bon Bons. Does not like fish, Boma, bleu cheese, or anything involving “hummus”. Drinks Sprite, Coke, Root Beer, and lava coladas around the pool and hates anything diet.

DW (me): Loves Boma, hummus and diet coke. Also loves desserts and good steaks and shrimp. Does not like most seafood outside shellfish, anything too “funky” and is allergic to bleu cheese. Drinks lots of water (with or without Crystal Light), diet coke of all kinds (caffeine free, with lime, the new “plus” kind, etc). Does like to try the occasional alcoholic bevvie.

DS (5 ½): Loves macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, chocolate doughnuts, corn bread and butter, anything candy, and ice cream. Does not like salads, anything with sauce on it or touching it or anything we ask him to “just try”. Drinks pretty much anything he can get his hands on.

A few more things:

1. We spent 9 nights at Beach Club Villas first, followed by 3 nights at Villas at Wilderness Lodge and then 3 nights at Boardwalk Villas. We had the DDP at each stay.
2. I made a lot of ADR’s ahead of time like the obsessive little planner I am, and we kept most of them – this was nice when we saw walkups being turned away, but having the DDP really did put some structure in some days that could have been nice non structured. It was worth it though.
3. We used all our TS credits as they were intended – I don’t think we could use DS’s credits for us, but we didn’t try.
4. Flammable: We paid no attention to which CS credits were Adult or Child. They were all pooled and we were given a handwritten sheet at BCV and printed sheets at the other two resorts that showed them pooled. DS is recently on some ADHD meds which affect his appetite, so there were times he wanted to share with us, and times he only had a taste for something on the adult menu (chicken strips, etc). And there were times he wanted the kids’ meals.
5. Snack credits – we paid OOP for most sodas, waters, inexpensive snacks. We used our snack credits for things we wouldn’t normally buy, things that were fun, or things DS wanted as a treat. An example – a $4 smoothie isn’t something I could stomach buying. But with a snack credit? Sure! When we had lots of them left over, we followed some CM advice and bought treats for DS and souvenirs at Goofy’s Candy Company.
6. We really like steak. A lot. You’ll see lots of photos of tenderloin, sirloin, prime rib, NY Strips. I am almost embarrassed when I look back at the photos and see how many times we ordered the lovely roasted cow. I can say this: I won’t be needing another NY Strip for a long time. I’ll say this too: WDW has some fantastic places if you like steaks.
7. We don’t really get hungry when it’s humid so we share a lot and then ended up with lots of leftover CS credits. We had to be creative at times to use them up.
8. We aren’t gourmets – we like cheeseburgers, salads, ice cream, sandwiches, chicken – we don’t tend to order the exotic and the interesting. Lots of reviews and lots of photos, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
9. I kept track of how much everything would have been had we paid cash - which would never have happened so I don’t know that we can say how much we “saved” – so we could see the “value”. I’ll share if anyone is interested.
10. I love food – I like to cook, eat, read recipes, plan ADR’s, lunch with my best friend, dinner with my boys (DH and DS). I love to talk about food, watch shows about food, etc etc etc. I do NOT consider myself to be a professional reviewer. I’ll describe it as I taste it, but literature for Gourmet Magazine? This won’t be it.

So all that said…on with the reviews!

As requested - a guide to the reviews:

Flame Tree BBQ: pg 1 post 2
Mickey Bar: pg 1 post 3
Cape May Cafe: pg 1 post 8
Goofy's Candy Co Krispie Treat: pg 1 post 10
Backlot Express – MGM: page 4 post 52
Itzakadoozie – MGM: page 5 post 68
Coral Reef – Epcot: page 5 post 69
Spoodles Breakfast – Boardwalk: page 7 post 99
Boma - AKL (no photos): page 8 post 106
Mara snacks - AKL (no photos): page 8 post 106
El Pirata y El Perico - Magic Kingdom: page 8 post 107
Enchanted Grove - Magic Kingdom: page 9 post 123
Le Cellier – Epcot: page 9 post 132
Cool Wash Slushies – Epcot: page 10 post 145
Yorkshire County Fish Shop - Epcot (no photos): page 10 post 146
Spoodles Dinner – Boardwalk: page 10 post 147
Goofy powder candy - Seashore Sweets: page 12 post 167
Boardwalk Bakery Treats – Boardwalk: page 12 post 167
Tusker House - Animal Kingdom page 13 post 195
'Ohana - Polynesian page 14 post 196
Artist Palette breakfast - Saratoga Springs page 15 post 213
Space Dog - MK (no photos) page 15 post 215
Auntie Gravity's - MK page 15 post 217
Frontierland Turkey Leg - MK page 17 post 251
Yachtsman Steakhouse - Yacht Club page 16 post 233
BC Marketplace breakfast - Beach Club (no photos) page 17 post 242
Hurricane Hannahs - Beack Club (no photos) page 17 post 242
Coral Reef (2nd) - Epcot page 18 post 257
BC Marketplace dinner - Beach Club page 18 post 259
Roaring Fork lunch - Wilderness Lodge page 19 post 275
Aloha Isle snack - MK (no photos) page 19 post 285
Roaring Fork dinner - Wilderness Lodge page 20, post 286
Roaring Fork movie snacks - Wilderness Lodge (no photos) page 20, post 286
Kona Cafe breakfast - Polynesian page 20 post 300
Grand Adventures in Cooking Cookie - page 22 post 319
Earl of Sandwich - DTD page 22 post 319
Goofy's Candy Co make your own snacks - DTD Marketplace page 22 post 329
Whispering Canyon Cafe - Wilderness Lodge page 23 post 336
Artist Palette lunch - Saratoga Springs page 24 post 347
Le Cellier - Epcot page 24 post 349
F&G Mother's Day Brunch - Epcot page 25 post 367
Cooke's of Dublin - Pleasure Island page 26 post 378
Assortment of snacks - Goofy's Candy Co. page 27 post 395
Boardwalk Bakery dinner - Boardwalk page 27 post 396
Rosie's All American Cafe - MGM
Catalina Eddie's - MGM
Kona Cafe dinner - Polynesian
Boma breakfast - AKL
Cosmic Rays - MK
Ghiradelli's - DTD
Mara - AKL
Boardwalk Bakery breakfast - Boardwalk

 

[slk537]

NOTE: I used Photobucket and I have no idea why these photos are so huge. If anyone can tell me how to reduce them, I will happily do it.

We arrived at the BCV very late on May 1st. May 2nd was our first full day and we got up, ready to enjoy!

We didn’t have anything for breakfast – DS may have had something we packed for him to snack on on the plane, I don’t know. Lunch was at Flame Tree Barbecue at Animal Kingdom. This is a restaurant we go to every trip. DH loves BBQ in all it’s many forms and there is rarely a time he’ll skip if it he has the chance. He smokes his own BBQ at home and we always compare restaurant fare to his. FTBBQ usually scores very high, mostly because it’s at our Favorite Place on Earth.

DH ordered:

Beef sandwich (which came with) baked beans
Medium coke
Frozen lemonade
This sandwich is one of his all time favorites here, but he was disappointed that it didn’t come with corn on the cob as it has in the past. He was also surprised that he was unable to get a large soda. We were able to do that last year and hadn’t seen anything about that that changed. We would find out later in the trip that this is probably a DAK thing, not a DDP thing. He liked his sandwich as always, didn’t touch the beans (as always – they have coffee in them and that’s not his thing), drained his soda and shared his melting lemonade with DS, who also enjoyed it very much.

I ordered:

Pork sandwich, which also came with baked beans
Bottled water
Chocolate cake
My sandwich was good. I ate most of it and gave about ¼ to DH to try. He loves BBQ – has a smoker at home that he experiments with and so we spend a lot of time in BBQ restaurants when we travel. I usually get the chicken salad, but decided on the sandwich this time since DH likes his so much. I did regret not getting the salad, but again – the sandwich was good. I tried my baked beans – very sweet and smoky. I don’t like baked beans, but I haven’t tried them for many years. I still don’t like them. The chocolate cake wasn’t what I expected – I thought they’d have the same as Tusker House last year – a slice of cake instead of a cup. It was still good. I shared it with DS, who also loved it, but not as much as he loved the frozen lemonade.

And DS ordered:

Hot dog
Grapes
Applesauce
Chocolate Milk

He liked his hotdog – ate most of it with the bun and then finished the hotdog without the bun. Ate all his grapes and gave me the applesauce to put away for later. He then ate quite a bit of our desserts. DS isn’t a sf Jello kid, so he wasn’t interested in dessert. However, it looked like he got a choice of 2 sides and Jello was one of them…he didn’t seem to get a choice for dessert. No problem, as we would have declined the Jello, but strange.

Overall? We like FTB very much. The seating is great and beautiful locations and it is a terrific start to our trip. However, I would have choked if we actually had to pay $34 OOP for this meal.

 

[slk537]

DS had a good lunch, so he was dying for some ice cream. Here he is with his Mickey bar:

Review? It’s a Mickey Bar! Pure magic

 

[Jaime]

I can't wait to read more...we book our ADR's in 2 weeks...Ds looks like he is enjoying his ice cream...they are so messy though!!!

 

[slk537]

I can't wait to read more...we book our ADR's in 2 weeks...Ds looks like he is enjoying his ice cream...they are so messy though!!!

Thanks! And what you don't see in that photo is me, following him, with wipes and napkins!

 

[1andrea]

Cant wait to read more!

 

[seetheworld]

Wow, I think your reviews will be awesome - thank you very much! I look so forward to reading them.

 

[slk537]

Photos and reviews of Buffets are tough... We obviously don't eat everything there and it's very much our choice. We love this restaurant - it's become a first day tradition when we stay at the BCV. It's an odd choice for a family who aren't real seafood lovers, but the atmosphere is wonderful, the short walk from the room is great, and they have plenty of items we really like.

DS's plate, for example:

DS loves corn on the cob. He had to have two. He tried the cheese pizza and said it was "disgusting". This is a new word for him - he's used it about a lot of things, including the smell of an A&W bacon cheeseburger at the airport today, so we took that review with a whole shaker of salt, not just a grain . The rest of his plate is a mix of black olives, grapes, and melon. He wasn't hungry this evening. The other kids' choices are great - hot dogs, mac and cheese, chicken tenders, etc. DS was more interested in creating a masterpiece of color on the table top (they have crayons and paper covered tables)

I am ashamed to say I forgot to take a photo of DH's salad first plate...

My first plate:

Caesar salad - yum! The croutons were huge and very crunchy, very nice in a buffet. Green olives - good. Red potato salad - a favorite of mine. The last item is cottage cheese. This was not good. Kind of soft and warm and just not good.

DH's second plate:

Green beans - a family favorite, mashed potatoes, ribs (there's that BBQ!) and a lovely slice of medium rare carved beef with horseradish. You can also see the two clams - he ate one and tried to get DS to try the other. See DS's list of likes and dislikes (ie: anything we ask him to “just try”. ) to see how well that went over... DH enjoyed everything on his plate.

My second plate:

Again - yummy green beans. Chicken and ribs with BBQ sauce (yeah, DH isn't the only family member who is drawn to BBQ...) and some of the kid's mac and cheese. My carved beef was too well done, but did go well with the mild horseradish.

An Oreo bon bon - DH's favorite WDW dessert. DS and I ran up to get him one while he was getting his plate pictured above:

An Oreo cookie, topped with cookies and cream mousse and then covered in a light layer of chocolate. The Beach Club's answer to the Zebra Dome. Delicious!

DH's remaining desserts:

A second Oreo bon bon, a creme brulee cheesecake and some sort of little pie. Tried to get DS to try that. Didn't work.

My dessert sampler:

An Oreo bon bon - excellent! The same creme brulee cheesecake dessert DH had...this was very good. I tried to give the chocolate piece on the top to DS, along with the chocolate straw but he was really into his coloring and declined. Also on the plate, a little cheesecake with berries, and some flan. I loved the cheesecake, liked the flan. Loved the berries.

Overall - we really like Cape May!

 

[slk537]

Cant wait to read more!

Wow, I think your reviews will be awesome - thank you very much! I look so forward to reading them.

Thank you both! I love reading reviews and I really enjoy photos so I was looking forward to doing this when I got home.

 

[slk537]

I had seen the "make your own" desserts at Goofy's on the DIS and when we were there last year and I really wanted DS to try it. He was game, so when we went to DTD that night, we made it a point to stop in.

DS chose the Mickey rice krispie treat with milk chocolate on the ears only and then dipped in sprinkles. I was positive he'd have jumped at Reese's PB Cup but nope. Sprinkles. This was also when he learned what "milk chocolate" meant. He didn't understand the difference until we likened it to a Hershey bar. That did the trick.

This snack was eaten partially that night and finished off as a healthy sugar dose breakfast the next morning...

Dipping the chocolate...(sorry for the quality - these were done through glass)

Adding the sprinkles:

Displaying the treat in its glory:

The finished product back at the room:

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Another great review thread with someone who went on a long trip More to enjoy!

 

[want2bamommy]

What wonderful reviews and pictures!! I look forward to reading (and seeing pictures) of the rest of your vacation!

Missie

 

[The Sweetness]

Well DONE!!! and if you keep up this pace of one day at a time, I will be on vaca myself before you finish

 

[NEWEARS2006]

Love the picturesl

 

[the4princesses]

I am loving the pictures!!! Hurry and post more soon!!

 

[dancemomnj]

Great reviews and pictures! Looking forward to reading more!

 

[mommyaof2]

Love it! Keep it coming!

 

[mlill]

Hi! I found your food TR first, and then I had to look up your trip TR! LOL! I'm looking forward to reading both! It sounds like you guys had a great trip!!! The food looks yummy!!!

-Michelle

 

[LauraAnn630]

YmmY!!

 

[Krissalee]

Love the reviews - amazing photos -looking forward to the rest!