DxDP Takes Revenge [a Fall 2018 Report] - COMPLETE

[Goldia]

Oh no you were late for your afternoon tea. It sounds like this is not something they are used to.

We were also late for our Yachtsman meal but they were really kind and it wasn't a problem. I guess that they are more laid back at Y & B than at the Grand Flo.

The steak looks soo good. I have to agree those rolls with the garlic and butter is a bit of a cliche now, but deservedly so as they are yummy, the filet mignon was also delicious.

[Eccle]

The steak looks lovely. Have you eaten at Ale and Compass? I do really fancy Yachtsman but as we are only doing 5 nights on site I'm not sure about using up 2 credits, so Ale and Compass is another option for us

[collybird]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Oh no you were late for your afternoon tea. It sounds like this is not something they are used to.

We were also late for our Yachtsman meal but they were really kind and it wasn't a problem. I guess that they are more laid back at Y & B than at the Grand Flo.

The steak looks soo good. I have to agree those rolls with the garlic and butter is a bit of a cliche now, but deservedly so as they are yummy, the filet mignon was also delicious.

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I think the greeter at the podium at the Grand Flo was being a bit pedantic really, there was only a few others parties in the restaurant and none of the large parties she claimed to be expecting arrived either

Thank you for reading!

Originally Posted by Eccle

The steak looks lovely. Have you eaten at Ale and Compass? I do really fancy Yachtsman but as we are only doing 5 nights on site I'm not sure about using up 2 credits, so Ale and Compass is another option for us

See more...

We've been to Ale and Compass and I think it will be a good alternative, but I'd encourage you to think about paying for Yachtsman OOP it was that good! I agree about being reluctant to splurge 2 credits, on regular dining plan I don't see the value in it.

Thank you for reading!

[collybird]

DAY 8

Whilst Nik was enjoying his first lie-in of the trip I headed out for some breakfast at the resort.

Spyglass Grill

We were staying at Caribbean Beach prior to the new main building open so our breakfast options were the buffet in the tent at Centretown, the Island Market stores, or Spyglass Grill. I decided not to bother with the buffet purely with the TR in mind, what would be the point telling you what the buffet was like when it wouldn’t be available at the time of reading!?

The Island Markets are former guest rooms that have been converted into little stores. They are located in the Aruba and Jamaica areas of the resort, although how long they'll remain open for now the refurb is complete is anyone's guess. The markets are great for grab and go items such as pastries and muffins, they also offer cereal, and breakfast burritos, which are frozen and then cooked in the microwave. You can also refill your mugs with coffee or tea here. I wanted something more substantial than a snack so Spyglass Grill was the winner.

Spyglass Grill


Spyglass Grill is located in the Trinidad section of the resort. We were in Jamaica so it was only a short walk over. You can see the menu here here.

The restaurant has a small covered seating area, and a drinks station to refill your mugs.

I ordered breakfast to go and chose the Breakfast Cuban - Pressed Cuban Sandwich stuffed with Ham, Pulled Pork, Egg and Swiss Cheese

I was quite surprised to open the box and see that this didn’t include breakfast potatoes. The bread was nicely toasted and kept its crunch, it wasn’t overly eggy like some breakfast sandwiches can be (see tomorrow!), the ham was nice, but although the pork was juicy it felt dry and was badly in need of some kind of sauce. When will I learn that I do not like pork!?

Breakfast, including a chocolate milk for Nik came to $11.49.

CREDITS USED 62
TOTAL IN $$ 1,836.08

***

We had an exciting day ahead of us, we were going to Fort Wilderness for brunch, then we were checking into the Polynesian for our first ever stay in a monorail resort, AND then we were off to Magic Kingdom, which was open until 12 am which plans to see The Kiss Goodnight.

I got an email super early saying our room was ready at the Poly so I was excited to check in, dump our bags, then take the monorail to MK, then a boat to Fort Wilderness. But we ended up running late () and we had to drive to Fort Wilderness and take the internal bus to Trail’s End instead. I do enjoy the little mini tour of Fort Wilderness the bus journey gives you, I think Nik and I would really enjoy a stay here.

Trail’s End

Trail’s End offers brunch on Saturday and Sunday featuring the best items for their breakfast and dinner menus. I was excited about this, as we had a great breakfast here a few years ago, and everyone knows the dinner buffet is OUT OF THIS WORLD.

Some baked foods, the Strawberry Danish was really nice.

This is a bad picture of more baked goods

Some bagels in need of replenishment

Fruit

Salad, which you had to dress yourself, boo. Some cold meats and cheeses and apple sauce again!

There’s chilli in that cauldron haha. Nik really liked the chilli and had two bowls of it. It was off to the side and I don’t think many people knew about it as a few looked curiously as his bowl.

Bread pudding, sticky bun bake, pecan sauce and waffles. I’d say these were the best items on the buffet.

Waffle toppings

Scrambled eggs Pulled Pork Eggs Benedict

Frittata, tator tots and Disney pizza. We loved this pizza and it probably costs about 50c to make.

Oatmeal, grits and some kind of stir fry?

Biscuits and gravy, those rubbish cubed breakfast potatoes, sausages (skinny greasy Disney sausages, not the nice fat ones they had last time we were here) and bacon

Turkey and bacon at the carving station

Cereal

Cold items

Vegetables and Goat’s cheese pasta. The pasta, is honestly the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted, and I’ve accidentally eaten mud (I thought it was a piece of Bourbon biscuit ). I have no idea how I managed to swallow it, I have never wanted to spit anything about so badly before.

Mac and cheese, fried chicken, mash and gravy. Nik was gutted that there were no ribs!

We weren’t at all impressed by brunch, I think the problem was that we were completely over breakfast, so we’d have preferred the dinner buffet in full. It's really recommend either breakfast or dinner as separate meals.

Brunch cost $53.25 for two of us, I think this is probably one of the best deals in Disney. Fort Wilderness is a really fun place to visit, and you could really go to town on that buffet if you weren’t all breakfasted out. You should go, and try the pasta, I want to know that it’s not just me

CREDITS USED 64
TOTAL IN $$ 1,889.32

***

We had rented DVC points for our stay at the Poly so we were closer to the TTC than we were the main building so when we left for Magic Kingdom we just walked over there. We had planned to take the monorail but it was hot and there was a long line so we went for the ferry instead. Whilst we were waiting I grabbed a Frozen Drink from the Joffreys Stand between the monorail and ferry lines.

It isn’t well advertised that they sell these, I only knew because I spotted them in Goldia’s report, and even once I was looking for them I had to ask which flavours they offer – strawberry, passion fruit, and lemonade.

I had passion fruit, and this was the winning frozen drink of the trip. It reminded me of the gone-but-not-forgotten Jungle Juice slushy.

***

When you’re peckish, and have more DxDP dining credits than you’ll ever use, what do you do!? You have your third meal of the day

Casey’s Corner

How can you go wrong here?! I had All-Beef Hot Dog Meal and Nik had Chili-Cheese All-Beef Hot Dog / We both had fries with our dogs.

What can you say about these!? They are delicious and whenever I think of Main Street I think of having a hot dog. Although it wasn’t a meal time there was no seating available at Casey’s, our go to spot of the Tomorrowland Terrace was already closed off to prep for the Dessert Party, so that left the tables outside The Plaza. I spotted a table and just as I was making my way over to it trying my hardest not to spill the lid-less sodas, a man with an ice cream sat down. That was until his wife scolded him and told him that we were intending to sit there and as we had food we should have the table. That was very kind of her

CREDITS USED 66
TOTAL IN $$ 1,920.70

***

We were supposed to be eating at Skippers Canteen tonight, we have supposed to have been eating there ever since it opened, but we keep cancelling it. We were having too much fun playing in the park, so we cancelled it again We now have a theory that it is the best restaurant in all of Disney and we are really missing out. Maybe next time!? I promise next time.

We watched the CMs making the candy apples at Big Top Treats then I decided to splurge on one. I’ve always thought they looked nice but the toffee looked like it would break your teeth. But I recently learnt that the toffee is soft, like Cadbury’s caramel, so we had to try one. You can have a caramel apple, or the one dusted with nuts, as a snack credit, but not the decorated ones. I decided to splurge on a Sorcerer Mickey one which was $10.99.

This is what it looks like prior to the CM chopping it up for us.

And after...

Neither of us really expected to like this much but we loved it, a new favourite. I could eat one now!

***


Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café

We had the most magical evening, we were in Fantasyland just leaving Under the Sea when Happily Ever After started and we had an amazing view of them over Gaston's Tavern.

We had a late dinner in Tomorrowland. I had 1/2 Rotisserie Chicken - Slow-roasted Rotisserie Chicken served with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans

This is the first meal I ever ate in Disney back in 2010, it was delicious then, and it is still delicious now, the chicken is so tender and juicy, I don’t know how they do it. More than enough for sharing too. Sadly, they are currently only offering this at dinner time.

Nik had Chicken Breast Nuggets – 10 piece - 10-piece Chicken Breast Nuggets served with French Fries, Green Beans or Mashed Potatoes

It was really late and I had been worried about the quality of the food but everything was freshly cooked and piping hot.

Nik also tried the Galaxy Loaded Fries these are from the ‘secret’ mobile order menu and he wanted to try them as he had seen the DIS Dining Show guys try them. They are Loaded Fries topped with Bacon, Pico Relish, Garlic Ranch Sauce, Cheese Sauce and Flaming Hot Cheese Dust

He liked these but thought the inclusion of the ‘flaming hot cheese dust’ was questionable, it is crushed Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. I didn’t try them as I don’t like Cheetos as it is, never mind their crumbs poured over my fries. The Garlic Ranch was available on the toppings bar and is delicious, I’d go to Cosmic Ray’s purely for this, I really hope it’s something they keep.

We used a snack credit for the Loaded fries, and the rest of the meal came to $36.70.

It's not cool to admit but I think Cosmic Ray's is our favourite QS, it just sells all the rubbish we love

CREDITS USED 68
TOTAL IN $$ 1,957.40

We didn't stay for the kiss goodnight

[Sue]

Alright I admit it, I love those “rubbish cubed breakfast potatoes”
But only if they have onions in and are well cooked, otherwise they’re rubbish

[Eccle]

Originally Posted by collybird

We've been to Ale and Compass and I think it will be a good alternative, but I'd encourage you to think about paying for Yachtsman OOP it was that good! I agree about being reluctant to splurge 2 credits, on regular dining plan I don't see the value in it.

Thank you for reading!

See more...

Thank you, I'm really torn as I would like to go to Yachtsman, maybe I can justify it as a birthday treat OOP! I'm already struggling to work out where we should go to using the dining plan, and with kids it's a balance between the places I'd really like to try and the character meals that they would prefer!

The Trail's End buffet looks good, although I did laugh that the pasta was worse than mud!

I am also not convinced that I would want crumbled Cheetos on my fries!

[GezzasGem]

Tempted to take a look round the redesigned CBR as we honeymooned there some years ago! Really want to try Trails End for dinner as DH is vegan and this seems to be recommended highly for his dietary requirement?

[Mrs Valentine]

If anyones been to CBR now and knows how the buses go, please post on here. We used to love Aruba as that was the second stop, so you always got a seat. Now the new Resort is at that end where the Custom House used to be, what s the best bit to stay in now, with regard to the buses. We are not in a preferred room. Thanks all.

[disjunkie]

Really enjoying this. Yachtsman looks so good, we haven’t eaten there for a few years but always had good meals there.

[Goldia]

Ooh you found the best slushy juice drink in wdw hurrah!

Trails End is spoken about by a lot of people as being one of the best buffets and also best value for money. Such a shame the brunch didn't quite hit the heights for you. It seems like you had both had enough of the big breakfasts.

A monorail resort! Yay for you. I really hope you had fun at the Poly. Even if you were out in the sticks a bit. Still you were there, did you get a good view? Did you manage to try out the pool?

I've never managed to see the kiss goodnight. I would try to blame the kids being too young, but even that's not the issue now. I suppose you can't burn the candle at both ends early starts and late nights don't go well together. Well I know that I can't anyway.

Still you had the most magical evening and that is wonderful to read! I love seeing the fireworks from a different perspective and I imagine it was very quiet and there were not too many other people coming out of under the sea. I like seeing them without being crushed by other people too. It sounds like perfect timing on your part.

I'm sad that you skipped skipper canteen because it was fab, but then Cosmic Rays is yummy! Just a different type of yummy and sometimes you've got to eat what you fancy and not do be worrying about best value for credits or anything.

A wonderful day and I hope it all continues.