Artist Point was another restaurant we were REALLY looking forward too. Adam is a big game hunter, so I knew he would find the options here very appealing.
I also had pre-ordered a specialty cake for Adam to come after dinner. I had reconfirmed a few days before we left on our trip, and reminded the hostess when I checked in. The cake was sort of a big deal to me. Ever since Adam was a kid, he had a strawberry cream cake from Tastee Bakery for his birthday. EVERY year. Well, Tastee Bakery went out of business last year, which sent me on a frantic search for a bakery that would make a cake with a fresh strawberry/custard filling on short notice, in the middle of December. I was wildly unsuccessful and ended up with a strawberry buttercream cake. Even though this trip was nowhere near his birthday, I saw an opportunity to redeem myself. I worked with the kitchen staff at Wilderness directly. My directions were simple: Strawberry/Custard filling, white buttercream, and the words "Celebrate the Magic" on the top. I wanted it simply decorated, nothing over the top.
I sent Adam out to take a few pictures of the resort, when our waitress came up and said "Do you want that cake to be white cake or chocolate?" I explained that I had ordered a custom cake, and she went off to straighten everything out. I was now in a panic. Oh my gosh, they don't have the cake! It was all I could think about. I wanted it to be a surprise, so I had to put on the happy face and enjoy dinner!
For apps, I had to have the soup!
Smokey Portobello Soup - with Roasted Shiitakes and Chive Oil $9
This is really **Nirvana** in a little bowl of amazingness. I was totally tempted to tell the waitress that I wanted that as my entree too, but didn't.
Adam, of course, went with this:
Heirloom tomato salad! He thought it was good. It was their "seasonal" app, so it no longer appears on the menu.
For mains I went with:
Grilled Buffalo Striploin $43
This came with a side of totally useless fried brown rice. It was served in a sort of phyllo cup rolled on its side, which was really difficult to eat, with out grabbing onto the cup and digging in.
The buffalo was good and cooked very well.
And for Adam:
Grilled Beef Tenderloin - with Zellwood Cornbread Pudding, oven-dried tomatoes, asparagus, and lemon-herb butter $41
Another winning dish here. Perfectly cooked beef and the sides went with very well.
The one downside to eating at AP on the dining plan is you also get a side with your dish. This was the only signature we encountered this at.
We both had the mac and cheese, and both had to be boxed up to go. We ended up throwing it out.
So, still not knowing if we would have cake or not, the waitress came to take our dessert order. We both ordered the berry cobbler.
And then...TADA!!!
Cake arrives!!! Oh and was it perfect. Exactly how it was from Tastee Bakery. I earned MAJOR points back with this. (Maybe its now a good reason to go back to DW more often!)
So, it was in the middle of the cake excitement that our real desserts arrived, so we each had a piece of cake AND the cobblers. Both were amazing and incredible. But by the time we finished, I felt like I had eaten an entire buffalo. We had our cake boxed up to take home, along with the the Mac's and then slumbered through our food coma.
Total Cost of Food (Not including specialty cake): $196.37
Total Credits Used: 6 (Will explain in a moment)
Cost of Specialty Cake: $38.34
So, it wasn't until the next morning at breakfast that we realized we got charged 6 credits at Artist Point for Dinner. So, when we got back to the hotel, we went to guest services and brought our receipt from Artist Point to show that we were only dining for 2 the previous night. Apparently due to the way the waitress entered the cake on our bill, it looked like a third person, so deducted an extra 2 credits. I also paid for the cake on my Visa card. So, the guy at guest services refunded the charge on my Visa card. It worked out well for us since we ended up canceling our lunch at Sci Fi that day, so actually had extra credits to use. Now, I certainly would not guess that it is ever an option to use your extra meal credits for cake, and sure it would never happen again, but worked well to our advantage!
My DH wondered how junior high kids could even afford the Wishes Dessert Party! UGH! While we enjoyed our desserts soo very much and had the PERFECT table, the fact that it comes down to pushing and shoving to get a good spot was frustrating, especially as a family of 5 we paid @100 bucks for basically the dessert! We made the best of it but boy was the dad at the next table MAD!!! I am sure Disney heard from him!!!
That being said, was it worth a bus ride and a monorail trip from the Pop? You bet not.
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