Our delicious Deluxe Dining Adventures! Lots of pics! Final thoughts - All Done!!

[AussieAngel]

I was lagging behind a little bit, but now I have also finished reading your report and would like to say Thank You, Julie, for the great report and all the interesting details! It's amazing how much I sometimes found my husband and myself in your descriptions of Conan and yourself, even though we live like half a world away!

I have learned lots for my own upcoming trip with the Deluxe Dining Plan ... and I bet I will unconsciously always look around to see if I can spot the two of you somewhere, as I have seen so many Disney pictures with you in them that for me, you somehow "belong" there now.

All the best and don't forget that there is work to be done - you have a 2012 trip to plan!

Aww, thank you for all your nice comments annichan!! I wish we really did "belong" in Disney World - wouldn't that be fun!?! I hope you have a fabulous time on your trip - will you be doing a dining review afterward!? I hope so!!

Oh, boo hoo, waaaaaa. I don't want this to end! I'm having so much fun "with" you guys!!! At least there's still some trip report left to finish!!! Then what? I have to wait till 2012 to hear more? Maybe you can talk Conan into 2011?

Seriously Julie, great job. This is one of my favorite dining reviews ever! You are awesome!!!

Thank you Shannon!! So nice!! There's still plenty more trip report to come, don't worry!! I'm so glad you enjoyed reading our reviews!! 2011, hmmm! I'll have to chat to Conan about that one!!!

Great dining reviews!!! Now, back to catch up on your trip report.....
Thanks!!!!!

Thanks for reading!!! My trip report has been updated finally - I've had a crazy week at school, but I'm back on track now! Phew!!

Thanks for sharing your dining reviews. I have just read the whole 32 pages & am seriously hungry now!

Wow, you did a great job reading the whole 32 pages in one go!! Thanks for reading!! I hope you found something to satisfy your hunger!!

Thanks for the excellent reviews! I really enjoyed reading them!

No worries!! Thanks for reading!!

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Thanks so much for the time you have put into your dining report. Its always great to read reviews but I've really enjoyed getting another aussie's perspective. We are going in September this year. We were there for Christmas in 2007 so its only been 15months since we've been but I'm feeling the withdrawals something terrible. Don't know what I'm going to do when this next trip is over. I thought I had pretty much decided what restaurants we were going to do this time. We have 7 nights AKL CL with free dining (normal dining plan) and then we are doing a DCL cruise followed by 12nights offsite. (Windsor Hills) So we wont be eating out every night that last 12 nights. After reading your reviews I'm seriously thinking we should add Jiko to our list for while we are staying at AKL. It would mean pushing something back but I think we might do it. We do have CG one night and were putting the kids in kids club so we would probably have to take them to Jiko with us. But the look of that shrimp dish you had makes it worthwhile. I'm going to head over to your trip report now. Thanks again.

 

[rodeo65]

Thanks so much for the great reviews, and an awesome wrap up. I'll now mosey on over to your TR and check it out!

We hadn't considered DxDP - new to the whole dining plan thing anyway, but it definitely sounds like overkill unless you're eating signature frequently. With a 6 & 8 yr old I can't see them wanting to take time away from touring for that many sit downs.

 

[AussieAngel]

Thanks so much for the time you have put into your dining report. Its always great to read reviews but I've really enjoyed getting another aussie's perspective. We are going in September this year. We were there for Christmas in 2007 so its only been 15months since we've been but I'm feeling the withdrawals something terrible. Don't know what I'm going to do when this next trip is over. I thought I had pretty much decided what restaurants we were going to do this time. We have 7 nights AKL CL with free dining (normal dining plan) and then we are doing a DCL cruise followed by 12nights offsite. (Windsor Hills) So we wont be eating out every night that last 12 nights. After reading your reviews I'm seriously thinking we should add Jiko to our list for while we are staying at AKL. It would mean pushing something back but I think we might do it. We do have CG one night and were putting the kids in kids club so we would probably have to take them to Jiko with us. But the look of that shrimp dish you had makes it worthwhile. I'm going to head over to your trip report now. Thanks again.

Hello, fellow Aussie!!!
Wow, lucky you, going back in September!! That time will fly - you'll be there before you know it!! And woohoo - free dining as well!
Jiko really was wonderful - if you like the look of the menu and think you can move something else around to make room for it, I definitely would! There were plenty of kids at Jiko the night we were there - I'm sure they'd be fine. And that shrimp dish (or should I say, prawn dish!) really was fantastic!
See you on my trip report!!

Thanks so much for the great reviews, and an awesome wrap up. I'll now mosey on over to your TR and check it out!

We hadn't considered DxDP - new to the whole dining plan thing anyway, but it definitely sounds like overkill unless you're eating signature frequently. With a 6 & 8 yr old I can't see them wanting to take time away from touring for that many sit downs.

I definitely wouldn't do the Deluxe Dining Plan with young kids - they'd get so sick of sitting down to eat all the time!! It was fun, but as you said - a bit of a food overkill!
Thanks so much for reading, I'm glad you enjoyed the reviews!!

 

[scanne]

I loved your food report! Just awesome!

We are doing the DxDP for the first time in June. I'm a bit nervous about the amount of food, but I have Citricos and the Hoop De Doo Revue booked and I plan on having at least one room service breakfast!

But your reviews and pictures were wonderful.
Sorry about the nasty, unmagical CM at Mama Melrose's. But private dining at the WL looks like it made up for that.

I'm inspired to do another dining report. I did one a couple of years ago. It will be my mission to report back to the DISboards in July with our DxDp review.

Thanks so much!

 

[AussieAngel]

I loved your food report! Just awesome!

We are doing the DxDP for the first time in June. I'm a bit nervous about the amount of food, but I have Citricos and the Hoop De Doo Revue booked and I plan on having at least one room service breakfast!

But your reviews and pictures were wonderful.
Sorry about the nasty, unmagical CM at Mama Melrose's. But private dining at the WL looks like it made up for that.

I'm inspired to do another dining report. I did one a couple of years ago. It will be my mission to report back to the DISboards in July with our DxDp review.

Thanks so much!

Hey, thanks for reading!! I'm glad you enjoyed my dining report!
Don't be nervous about doing deluxe dining - just because it didn't work for us, doesn't mean it won't work for you! You might love it!!
You should totally write a new dining report! It's fun to relive all those dining experiences after you get back. Take lots of photos!!!

 

[thechesters420]

I LOVE your food report too. It's so cute how you took the pics of everything. I felt like I was there

 

[medicgirl911]

After our photo was taken, we sat in the foyer area for a little while and waited to be seated. And then... it was 8 oclock!! Time for Wishes! Oh no!! I had hoped we'd be seated by then, so we could actually see the fireworks from the windows! There was nobody else in the foyer - everybody else had gone, even Cinderella!

We decided to go for a little explore, and found Cinderella sitting on the ground in the walkway of the castle, watching the fireworks!! Wow!! Two little girls were snuggled up next to her, and there were probably 4 or 5 other adults standing around watching the fireworks with her.

This truly was an amazing experience! We felt so lucky to be watching Wishes with Cinderella!! Those little girls sitting with her must have been even more excited! It really was a lovely moment and something I'll always remember about my time at Disney World.

Shortly after Wishes ended, our names were called and we were taken to our table. It was a lovely little table for two, right by the window. It would have been perfect to watch Wishes from, but our experience with Cinderella was even better!

We gave Cinderella's Royal Table 4 smiley men out of 5!

Next up... Lunch at Grand Floridian Cafe!

Just found your Dining review today...and now I am getting nothing else done around the house LOL!!!!! I am a bit over midway through and I just had to say this part brought tears to my eyes!!! That looked just like the perfect Disney moment ever!!!!

Ok I am done gushing and heading back to the food porn!!! I cna't wait to finish reading!!!

 

[medicgirl911]

All done!! Your reviews were wonderful!! I can not believe how you were treated at Mama Melroses! I know what you mean about being angry and upset...those feelings are linked directly to my tear ducts as well...then I get more angry because I am crying...and so then more tears come...it's a vicious circle LOL!! I am probably going to have to wander over to take a look at your trip report because I really can't believe you had time to do anything in the parks other than eat You helped me realize that the Deluxe plan is sooo not for us!!! (But it does give you much more to review )

 

[AussieAngel]

I LOVE your food report too. It's so cute how you took the pics of everything. I felt like I was there

Thanks!! I'm glad you enjoyed it!!

Just found your Dining review today...and now I am getting nothing else done around the house LOL!!!!! I am a bit over midway through and I just had to say this part brought tears to my eyes!!! That looked just like the perfect Disney moment ever!!!!

Ok I am done gushing and heading back to the food porn!!! I cna't wait to finish reading!!!

Aww, thanks! I hope you got the rest of your house work done, hehee! That moment with Cinderella was fantastic - definitely a Disney moment to treasure!!

All done!! Your reviews were wonderful!! I can not believe how you were treated at Mama Melroses! I know what you mean about being angry and upset...those feelings are linked directly to my tear ducts as well...then I get more angry because I am crying...and so then more tears come...it's a vicious circle LOL!! I am probably going to have to wander over to take a look at your trip report because I really can't believe you had time to do anything in the parks other than eat You helped me realize that the Deluxe plan is sooo not for us!!! (But it does give you much more to review )

Yay! You should definitely pop over to my trip report - there's only 2 days left to write about over there, and I'll be done there too! Wah!! Then what will I do!?!
Thanks again for reading, and for all your lovely comments!!

 

[Maize&Blue]

This post has many of the places that we want to try on our next trip to WDW. Everything looks so good. I'm not sure if it helped us figure out where to eat.

 

[MTCruiser]

Great review....thanks!

 

[NuttyDisneyMom]

Your review was FABULOUS! Thank you so much for posting! I just read the entire thread....good reads My family and I are big WDW foodies and I now know we could never do the DXDDP!!! SOOOO much food! I don't know how you did it Thanks again....I can't wait to read your TR now

 

[SPOERLX3]

DH surprised me and ordered the Spicy Chicken and Chipotle Sausage...

Normally he doesn't really like spicy things, but he quite enjoyed this anyway. I don't really know what possessed him to order it, but he said it was very different!



I have to say that the Spicy Chicken and Chipotle Sausage is MY FAVORITE food at Epcot! My family all loves the steak here but I don't waste my TS when I go to Le Cellier, I just get this and pay out of pocket and share my DH desert.

I saw this year they have a special Chef's thing where you can get an appetizer, a selection of entree's and a selection of deserts. I think this will work perfect for us. I can't wait!!! Just 110 days till Disney!!!

 

[TillyMarigold]

To answer your question... this was our third trip to America, so we kind of knew what to expect food-wise. It's not really that different to the food we serve here in Australia. BUT!!! The one thing we were constantly surprised at is the serving size. We've never gotten over the massive servings you get in America!! There have been many times where we've received our meals, and we just couldn't help but laugh. SO big!! Then it's awkward because there's no way I could finish a meal like that. Servers usually say something like, "Didn't you like it?!" And we have to explain that we're not used to such big servings!

Breakfast food in America is pretty different, actually. Here in Australia, we're used to cereal or toast, or if we're really spoiling ourselves, eggs and bacon. So we were surprised by seeing breakfast pizzas, breakfast steaks, breakfast donuts, breakfast lasagnes... ahhh!

I often think that if Americans come to Australia, they must be horrified by our small meals and our piddly little breakfasts! Heh! Plus, we don't get free soft drink refills either! Wah!

Wow, I raved on! Sorry!

Disney servings are huge by American restaurant standards, and restaurant standards are huge compared to what we would normally eat in a meal.

And Americans don't usually eat most of that stuff at breakfast either—most people will have cereal or toast or a bagel or maybe oatmeal, or sometimes a cup of yogurt and a piece of fruit. We usually only eat eggs or pancakes or French toast on weekends (who has time to cook in the morning during the week?!), and the fancy stuff (breakfast pizza, steak and eggs, breakfast burritos) we only get at restaurants.

But we love our free soft drink refills! (Although I did have dinner over the weekend at a place that didn't offer them, which seems silly to me, since it costs the restaurant like 5¢ a glass.)

 

[AussieAngel]

Yay for people still reading this thread!! Hehee!!

This post has many of the places that we want to try on our next trip to WDW. Everything looks so good. I'm not sure if it helped us figure out where to eat.

Ooh dear, figuring out where to eat is tricky, isn't it!? There's so many great choices! I'm sure you'll work it out though. I hope I was of some help!!

Great review....thanks!

No worries! Thanks for reading!

Your review was FABULOUS! Thank you so much for posting! I just read the entire thread....good reads My family and I are big WDW foodies and I now know we could never do the DXDDP!!! SOOOO much food! I don't know how you did it Thanks again....I can't wait to read your TR now

I'm so glad you enjoyed our reviews! Thanks for reading! We definitely won't do the deluxe dining plan again - too much food!! It was fun though!

I have to say that the Spicy Chicken and Chipotle Sausage is MY FAVORITE food at Epcot! My family all loves the steak here but I don't waste my TS when I go to Le Cellier, I just get this and pay out of pocket and share my DH desert.

I saw this year they have a special Chef's thing where you can get an appetizer, a selection of entree's and a selection of deserts. I think this will work perfect for us. I can't wait!!! Just 110 days till Disney!!!

110 days til Disney, yay! It will go so quickly, I'm sure! Thanks for reading - DH enjoyed that spicy chicken sausage too. I wish I had a little taste!

Disney servings are huge by American restaurant standards, and restaurant standards are huge compared to what we would normally eat in a meal.

And Americans don't usually eat most of that stuff at breakfast either—most people will have cereal or toast or a bagel or maybe oatmeal, or sometimes a cup of yogurt and a piece of fruit. We usually only eat eggs or pancakes or French toast on weekends (who has time to cook in the morning during the week?!), and the fancy stuff (breakfast pizza, steak and eggs, breakfast burritos) we only get at restaurants.

But we love our free soft drink refills! (Although I did have dinner over the weekend at a place that didn't offer them, which seems silly to me, since it costs the restaurant like 5¢ a glass.)

Thanks for the info!
I often think that when Americans travel to Australia, they must be so shocked at our small meals at restaurants! Hehee! And no soft drink refills!! Wah!
Hehee, anyway. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the reviews!!