DxDP Takes Revenge [a Fall 2018 Report] - COMPLETE

[sha9]

Trails End was semi on our list last year but I couldn’t fit it in. Looks good though so maybe next year.

[DisneyDreamer81]

I love Cosmic Ray's too! Have never had a bad meal from there

[wilma-bride]

OK, so I am STILL laughing (almost 5 minutes later) at the comment about accidentally eating dirt, thinking it was a piece of Bourbon biscuit

I love your dedication to the art of food reviews (and it IS an art), buy a) eating as many meals as is humanly possible in one day, b) making sure you all order different things to provide variety and c) not bothering to review places that won't be open for readers to try for themselves

So, I am in a quandary. Having hear amazing things about Trail's End, I have made a brunch reservation for the last day of our trip a the end of this month. Now I can't decide whether to keep it? Given this will be our last Disney meal, will I be disappointed that I didn't opt to eat at one of our favourite places? Or should I try it anyway (live and learn, right?) And we aren't really breakfast eaters, generally, so we won't have had much in the way of breakfast over the week, nor will we have eaten at any other buffet places. Decisions, decisions...

[2019DisneyEvans]

Ooooh interesting! Trails End is on and off our list all the time. I have kept my reservation just in case ...

[collybird]

Originally Posted by 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

See more...

The onions definitely help!

Thank you for reading.

Originally Posted by Eccle

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!

See more...

I don't envy you having to juggle your preferences versus what the kids would enjoy, maybe you should pick a restaurant each? We love watching Disney restaurant reviews on YouTube.

Thank you for reading!

Originally Posted by 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?

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Definitely go visit, we will more than likely book Sebastian's next year so we can check out the new guest areas.

Thank you for reading!

Originally Posted by disjunkie

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

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The first time we ate there the greeter said 'Welcome to your first annual Yachtsman Steakhouse meal' We weren't totally sold back then but Nik has since discovered a liking for steak so we'll absolutely be back again.

Thank you for reading!

Originally Posted by 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.

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I really, really liked that slushy, I'll be splurging many a snack credit on those in the future, thank you for the recommendation, I wouldn't have even known they existed without you.

We didn't have a WOW view, but we didn't have a car park view either so we were happy enough, it was very peaceful sitting on the balcony just looking out at the resort. We didn't try the pool, I don't even pack swimwear It did look fabulous though.

I felt so bad about skipping Skipper Canteen (no pun intended!) knowing how much you loved it. There's quite a few restaurants I regret not visiting and this is one of them, I promise we'll do it next year, it's the first (and possibly only ) ADR we'll be booking.

Thank you for reading!

Originally Posted by sha9

Trails End was semi on our list last year but I couldn’t fit it in. Looks good though so maybe next year.

See more...

I'd definitely recommend it, I think breakfast is more suited for those with a sweet tooth, and dinner is the better meal, but I think you'd be satisfied whichever you go for.

Thank you for reading!

Originally Posted by DisneyDreamer81

I love Cosmic Ray's too! Have never had a bad meal from there

See more...

We must be commoners We found that the QS food was served much hotter than in the table service restaurants (Signatures in particular!).

Thank you for reading!

Originally Posted by wilma-bride

OK, so I am STILL laughing (almost 5 minutes later) at the comment about accidentally eating dirt, thinking it was a piece of Bourbon biscuit

I love your dedication to the art of food reviews (and it IS an art), buy a) eating as many meals as is humanly possible in one day, b) making sure you all order different things to provide variety and c) not bothering to review places that won't be open for readers to try for themselves

So, I am in a quandary. Having hear amazing things about Trail's End, I have made a brunch reservation for the last day of our trip a the end of this month. Now I can't decide whether to keep it? Given this will be our last Disney meal, will I be disappointed that I didn't opt to eat at one of our favourite places? Or should I try it anyway (live and learn, right?) And we aren't really breakfast eaters, generally, so we won't have had much in the way of breakfast over the week, nor will we have eaten at any other buffet places. Decisions, decisions...

See more...

I couldn't let a good piece of 'biscuit' go to waste

I don't think you will be disappointed with Trail's End, I think our timing was just really bad, we had eaten a lot of breakfasts! I think you should keep it, just to see how you feel, I don't think you'll regret it, like I say, visiting Fort Wilderness is an experience in itself. It's a pity they did away with their TS lunch menu a few years ago, it always appealed.

Thank you for reading!

Originally Posted by 2019DisneyEvans

Ooooh interesting! Trails End is on and off our list all the time. I have kept my reservation just in case ...

See more...

Definitely keep it!

Thank you for reading

[collybird]

DAY 9

Capt’n Cooks


Whilst Nik was enjoying a lie-in I walked to Ceremonial House to get some breakfast. I had toyed with getting myself a last-minute booking at Kona but I didn’t want to leave Nik alone for too long and run the risk of him sleeping in.

This is the breakfast menu:

You order, then are given a tracker to place on your table so they know where to deliver your food to.

I sat outside as it wasn’t too hot yet. I had Breakfast Sandwich - Egg, Bacon and Cheddar on Croissant

Why did I have this!? I was sick of eggs, and I don’t like American bacon. It was also very, very difficult to eat. I should have tried for a walk-up at Kona, they had a smoked salmon platter that I had been lusting after

Breakfast with a chocolate milk cost $12.02

CREDITS USED 69
TOTAL IN $$ 1,969.41

***

Before leaving Magic Kingdom the previous evening I had used a snack credit for my first ever Rice Krispie treat, and I ate this as my real breakfast on our balcony.

This was covered in white chocolate, it was cheap white chocolate, like the chocolate mice we get over here are made from, luckily, I love this! The Rice Krispie treat itself wasn’t my favourite, I thought it was a bit gloopy.

I tried to make my own pumpkin ones for Halloween, whilst they looked cute, they were like rocks, completely inedible

***

California Grill

This was an ADR I had really been looking forward to as everyone raves about brunch.

We were a little early for our ADR as we’d headed to the Contemporary straight after checking out of the Polynesian. We checked in, but were advised we would likely be seated after our original ADR time as they were running a little behind. This was fine and we were taken up to the restaurant to wait in the bar area. The view when you walk out of the lift really can’t be described, it is so beautiful. Luckily we were seated only a few minutes later.



You are offered a cocktail on the walk to the table, but as we are teetotal, we declined. Once we were seated our server brought us menus and explained how brunch works. There is a buffet that you help yourself to, then you are brought an entrée of your choice, followed by dessert. She said that she would take our entrée orders but the kitchen wouldn’t start working on them until we had had at least two plates from the buffet.

Smoked salmon and bagels. Nik had two bagels and cream cheese from the buffet and that was genuinely about it!

I tried one of these parfaits, unfortunately they weren’t labelled but the yogurt was so bitter, they were horrible, the fruit was lovely though.

Bread for toasting, obviously I have a picture of this but I don’t recall seeing it on the buffet.

They also had some fruit and toppings available for you to create your own parfait.

Deviled eggs

Bacon and egg salad (clearly very popular)

Peach Salad

Soba Noodle Salad

Sushi – I tried some of this and can confirm that I don’t like sushi (I am starting to think I am pickier than I thought ), it's not the raw fish, I just don’t like the texture of rice.

Bloody Mary Bar

They were making the Bourbon Baba to order

Baked goods, I tried the chocolate croissant and it was no different to the ones served elsewhere

Charcuterie

I was so disappointed to see this was being served alongside those tasteless crackers, as this was the part of brunch I was most looking forward to. I mentioned to Nik I wish there’d been some bread for me to toast, but obviously there was and I’d just missed it!

For our entrees I had Steak and Eggs - Two Eggs any style, Chimchurri, Marble Potato Hash, Charred Red Onion.

This was an awful cut of meat, it was chewy and actually difficult to cut. The potatoes were really, really nice, these are available as a side dish on their own and I’d really recommend getting them. The eggs were cold! Nik was facing the open kitchen and the head chef was being very critical of all the dishes placed in front of him before they were given out, so my cold eggs were quite surprising. I really wished I had ordered a sweet dish.

We had a side of the House Recipe Sausage Patty. Unfortunately, our server missed Nik asking for some bacon.

These were like Lorne sausage, quite dry and just not worth ordering.

Nik had the Garden Omelette - Herb Crème Fraiche, Tomatoes, Spinach, Baby Squash, Mushrooms, Midnight Moon Cheese

This looks quite sad doesn’t it!? It just okay, the toppings weren’t blended into the egg, if that makes sense, it was like the omelette had finished cooking, then they’d added the filling and just rolled it up like a burrito.

Brunch is supposed to be quite a relaxing experience and our server had been really careful with the pacing, but we were ready to be out of there. Unfortunately, dessert was still to come.

The best thing on the plate was the little chocolate truffle, I could have eaten a box of those.

We had what must have been the worst table in the restaurant too, completely at the opposite side of Magic Kingdom, we could see Everest in the distance we were that far away!

Brunch came to $170.40. Yes, that was an $85 omelette Nik ate, maybe $80 if you deduct the two bagels he ate. I had envisaged this meal so differently, we would be sitting at a window table overlooking Magic Kingdom in a quiet restaurant (I don’t know why I expected it to be quiet knowing that brunch is so popular) and listening to the house band (we couldn’t hear them from where we were), whilst eating incredible food. Unfortunately, the reality was different, it just wasn’t for us, particularly as we don’t drink alcohol.

After brunch we had gone for a drive whilst we waited for our room at the Contemporary to be ready and we drove through Celebration, we drove along Market Street and I really wished we'd eaten there today instead.

Also, possibly the most exciting moment of the holiday occurred whilst we were in Celebration (), I saw a car with a Hawaii plate! We passed it before I could grab a picture.

CREDITS USED 73
TOTAL IN $$ 2,139.81

***

Be Our Guest

I’m a bit of a critic of Be Our Guest, and we weren’t intending to eat there, but when the new menu was announced there was lots of yummy sounding things on it, so I decided it might be nice to give it a try, especially as we were on DxDP. When an ADR popped up straight away it seemed like fate so I booked for 6.25 pm on the night we were attending MNSSHP. I was a little concerned about us wasting time eating when we should be enjoying the Party, and I wouldn’t recommend an ADR at this time if it’s the first Party you’ve been to, but we are veterans and didn’t mind too much. I was also sure that Be Our Guest would be speedy in getting us in and out.

How incredible does this girl dressed up as Belle look!?

I was really, really struggling with what to order and forgot to take a picture of the menu, you can see it here.

We were brought some bread and butter.

I had thought it was a bit tight-fisted of Disney not to switch out these rolls for something more sophisticated now that they are charging 2 credits per person for dinner, these rolls are the same as the part-baked ones you can buy here for 50p in Tesco. But, it turned out that, other than the Yachtsman’s rolls, this was my favourite bread of the trip – crusty on the outside and soft and fluffy in the middle, why would they change them when there’s nothing wrong!?

I really, really wanted to order the Escargot, particularly as we’d missed our Chef de France ADR, but chicken liver pate is one of my favourite things, so I ordered the Assorted Meats and Artisanal Cheese Selection

Remember, I had ordered this purely for the pate. This is the pate portion compared to my pinkie, please note I am the size of a child.

The small amount there was was very nice, as were the other meats. The cheeses weren’t for me, I prefer my cheese melted on a burger or a pizza, I'm classy like that

Nik had Maine Lobster Bique -Crème Fraiche and Poached Lobster

He really enjoyed this and said they hadn’t skimped on the lobster either! That must have been why there was no money left to make any pate.

I was so torn over which main to order, my heart wanted the seafood dish, but my head said it had had bad reviews so I discounted that. I was leaning towards the lamb chops and the server really recommended them, but I thought the chicken dish sounded great, and I knew EasyWDW had given it a good review, so I went for that. Poulet Rouge Chicken - Faro Wheat Risotto, Seasonal Vegetables, Crisp Pancetta, and Garlic Butter Sauce

Remember when I told my mum never to order the chicken!? I should have listened to my own advice. Despite the chicken being served on the bone it was a dry, and just bland, the skin wasn’t crispy and even that wasn’t seasoned well. There also wasn’t enough sauce, the thing that had swung me towards the dish in the first place! I'm so annoyed I didn't have the lamb.

Nik had Center-cut Filet Mignon - Robuchon Yukon Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables and Cipollini Marmalade with a Red Wine Glaze

This didn’t taste like filet at all, it was a really strange texture. Not a success.

Dessert is a trio of Almond Macaron with Lemon Jam and Raspberries, Dark Chocolate Truffle filled with Dark Chocolate Grand Marnier Ganache and White Chocolate ‘Chip’ Cup with Grey Stuff and Crisp Pearls

When it was first announced that this was going to be the one and only dessert offering I thought Disney were having a laugh, but actually it was perfect, all three things were really nice, although I couldn’t bring myself to eat Chip. I loved the portion sizes too, no huge dessert to worry about polishing off after you’ve just eaten another two courses. I do think that perhaps they should offer a few other alternatives, just so they don’t look so cheap, but I would be sad if they actually took these away.

Dinner cost $117.15 or 4 Table Service Credits. Be Our Guest is not a Signature restaurant, it is charging 2 TS credits per person purely because of supply and demand. If we hadn’t been on DxDP, I’d have paid OOP for this, I think that $55 for 3 courses in one of Disney’s most popular restaurants is actually not a bad deal, hopefully we were just unlucky with our meals. Unfortunately, overall, I think I preferred the old menu, the steak and chips were a great dish. Service, however, was fabulous (he was so good that I felt he should be working elsewhere) and we were seated in the West Wing (the only room we haven’t eaten in) without even requesting it, so it wasn’t all bad. We're glad we did it but we won't be back in the foreseeable future, and I definitely wouldn't splurge 2 credits on it!

CREDITS USED 77
TOTAL IN $$ 2,256.96

***

Contemporary Resort In-Room Dining

We were spending tonight at the Contemporary. The idea was we’d just stroll back to the hotel after MNSSHP finished, but as we were only staying for one night I had splurged on a Theme Park View room… As soon as we walked into the room I didn’t even want to go to the Party. The view was amazing and I just wanted to sit there all night.

We decided to leave the Party early so we could watch the fireworks from our balcony, this was amazing! Disney play the fireworks music through one of the TV channels and it was perfect. A special, special memory for us.

Afterwards, Nik was hungry so we ordered some room service. You can see the room service menu here.

He had Chicken Quesadilla - Cheddar and Pepper Jack Cheese Wrapped in a Flour Tortilla with House-made Pico de Gallo, Guacamole and Sour Cream And a side of fries, which turned out to be waffle fries.

I thought this looked amazing but Nik said that the quesadilla was too stuffed and he wanted it to be flatter haha.

This was $24.50, which usually I’d pay OOP for but as we had so many of Mum’s spare credits I used two Table Service credits to cover it. We already had drinks in the room so Nik hadn’t added a drink to his order, although he could have, and they provided a glass of water instead, which I thought was a nice touch.

Room service is charged an automatic gratuity of 18% but we also gave the guy who brought it to the room a few dollars.

CREDITS USED 79
TOTAL IN $$ 2,281.45

[sha9]

I always thought Cali Grill looked good but not for someone teetotal so I’ve never entertained it. It’s a shame it didn’t live up to the hype.

It’s so disappointing Be Our Guest wasn’t good either! Another I’ve considered but not sure now. That pate is ridiculous!

[Sue]

Thanks for the latest update, I’ve never really fancied Cali Grill brunch and this has just confirmed why!
We have a dinner ADR and have had two fabulous dinners there, hoping for a third.

[SquishTheWhale]

Yikes not a good food day for you (well excluding the room service), which is scary considering the amount of credits it cost you! That pate portion is pathetic, I feel like I'd have complained (although I know I wouldn't as I'm a wuss).
Did you do Cali Grill dinner last time I can't remember? We have booked dinner for our only 2 credit meal... I'm hoping the fireworks view justifies it even if the food doesn't.

P.s. I love cheap white chocolate mice too lol.

[Goldia]

I know that room service meal would have gone down a treat in our house. Yummy waffle fries, plus a chicken quesadilla is Kate's favourite thing to eat.

Such a shame the brunch wasn't as laid back as you had hoped. I agree with you about the price for dinner at BOG being pretty good oop, I don't think we'll be back in a hurry. Although I did like the French onion soup for my starter. You're right chip was too cute to eat!

I'm glad your view from the contemporary was so worth it. Relaxing there with the waffle fries and fireworks...I can't think of anything better.

Oh and your Halloween rice crispy treats looked great shame you couldn't eat them! It's fun to try and recreate this stuff though.