The Best Made Plans of a Mouse and Her Men – The Food Report

[HEMANCLOFTY]

The Best Made Plans of a Mouse and Her Men – The Food Report
23rd February – 9th March 2017
Part 1 (Onsite): 9 Nights at Caribbean Beach Resort with QSDP

The main trippie Index is Here

First of all, I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has been reading along with my trip report. I’m really enjoying writing this one, and in an attempt to keep the fun of writing going (as I’ve only got 5 more days to write about), I thought that I’d have a go at pulling the food parts together into a Food Report. Some of the wording is lifted directly from my trippie, so apologies if it reads a bit familiar.

Part 1 (this post) will cover the onsite part of our stay, as well as travel day. We had 9 nights onsite at Caribbean Beach Resort, with free QSDP, which gave us 54 Counter Credits and 54 Snack Credits to play with. I must confess to not getting 100% of our food photos, but I think I did pretty well, with only a couple of meals / dishes missed. So here goes...

Travel Day (23rd Feb): McDonalds, Virgin Economy, a Cheeky KFC and Old Port Royale

We set out for Manchester airport nice and early, and stopped off for some drinks at a shop close to home. 2 bottles each of Dr Pepper for Rich, Cherry Coke for me and Cherry Pepsi Max for Tom (1 for today and 1 to leave in the car for the journey home) – cost £6 – no pics (it was just pop).

Once we got to the M6 junction, we checked the Sat Nav for Macdonalds close to the airport, and Wythenshaw popped up, we arrived at 8:30am and I had a Double Sausage & Egg McMuffin Meal with a Cappuccino, Rich had 2 Sausage & Egg McMuffins, and Tom had a Bacon Roll (good value at £10.16)…

The boys were still a bit peckish, so Tom went back up to get another Bacon Roll and a 3rd Sausage & Egg McMuffin for Rich (£4.15).

Once we were through Security and settled in to the terminal, I popped to WHSmiths and took advantage of the “Buy the Times Get a Free Water” offer - £1.20 x 3 (instead of £1.80 each for the waters) – again no pic, it was only water for the plane

We were flying Virgin Economy – we were a bit delayed taking off due to Storm Doris, so we were all quite hungry by the time the setbelt sign went off, so I was staright up and retrieving our Pringles and Cookie Bites from my carry-on bag. Not long after this, the stewards kicked off the in-slight service with a mini can of Coke and tiny bag of Pretzels each (again no pics of the snacks, but I did get better from this point on).

Lunch was served at about 3:45pm (UK time). I’d booked a Kids Meal for Tom as he really hadn’t enjoyed any of the food on last year’s flights. He wasn’t impressed with his Cheesy Tomato Pasta, but Rich quite liked it so polished it off whilst we were waiting for our meals (I tried a bit and it had a pizza taste to it).

Out of all of this, he only ate the Oddities and the Chocolate Caramel Pudding.

Rich chose the Meatballs, which he quite enjoyed (except the peas) …

I went for the Vegetarian option of Sundried Tomato and Olive Pasta…

It was surprisingly very tasty, and I ate everything (except my GU pot which I gave to Tom) – even the salad was nice for once, so I ate Rich’s too, as well as both of our Crackers and Boursin cheese.

For drinks, I had juice and the boys had water.

Kids meal aside, we were pleasantly surprised with lunch, so didn’t need to crack into our packed lunch just yet, deciding to leave it until afternoon tea (we weren’t holding out much hope for the sandwiches).

At 4:30pm hot drinks were served. As usual I had 2 cups of tea (as Rich never wants one), then at 6pm Water & Squash was offered, quickly followed by the teeny-tiny Fab lollys …

By 9:30pm, UK (4:30pm US), Tom was keen to crack into our "special" packed lunch, so we tucked into our lovely chilled KFC…

Yes, we did take a KFC on a plane

NB – We’d pondered over doing this for quite a few weeks, as we’d anticipated that the food might not be great. Rich had finally decided to give it a go, so the night before we’d got a 14-piece Family Bucket for tea, and we had kept back half of the chicken and chilled it overnight, before putting it into my cool bag, which was then put in Rich’s carry on, along with a fresh empty bucket that he’d asked for when he picked it up.

The chicken had kept nice and cool and along with some Pringles, made for a much nicer in-flight Afternoon Tea than the very bizarre cream cheese and pepper sandwiches which were served a few minutes later (it was like bland Dairylea with a peppery kick). I don’t understand a) why they serve such bizarre combinations, b) why there isn’t a choice and c) why they give this same sandwich to the Kids?...

I quite enjoyed the Plane Crisps and Choccie Biscuit Bar with another 2 cuppas though

Due to the delay taking off and a long(ish) queue at Immigration, we arrived at Caribbean Beach Resort a bit later than we’d hoped. By this time we’d already agreed that we were too tired to go to Disney Springs for food, so instead we just sorted out the safe, and took a walk over to Old Port Royale as we were in desperate need for a full-fat Coke sugar rush.

We picked up our Resort Mugs - purple for me, blue for Rich and red for Tom. Mine had a purple handle, but Rich and Tom’s both had white handles.

We decided that we could all eat a small meal, so split 2 Counter Credits between the 3 of us – getting a Jumbo Pepperoni Pizza slice for Tom, which was actually 2 good sized slices and came with a Breadstick. He swapped his drink for a Cookie ($9.99 + $2.99 + Tax). We chose an Angus Bacon & Cheeseburger and a side of Fries for me and Rich to share, (again swapping the drink for a Cookie Fries ($12.99 + $2.99 + $2.99 + Tax). Sorry, no food pics tonight, I did have my phone with me, but don't seem to have taken any .

It was more than enough food and really tasty. Tom was really tired by now (well it was nearly 10pm, so 3am UK time) – so he only ate one slice of his Pizza (you know Tom is really tired when he leaves food). Rich and I picked at the other slice and it was nice.

Total Travel Day: 3 Resort Mugs / 2 Counter Credits / 1 Snack Credit (approx. $80), plus £19.71 OOP (UK)
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Day 1 (24th Feb) – Gaston’s Tavern, Columbia Harbour House, Wolfgang Puck Express & Earl of Sandwich

As first days often do, mine started with being wide awake at 3:30am. At 4:40am I gave up and made myself a cup of tea using one of the decaf tea bags that I’d brought with us and the milk potions I’d picked up at Old Port Royale last night (to see me through until I could get some Milk). I’d also brought a couple of packets of sugar free Marie Biscuits, so I enjoyed a few of those dunked in my cuppa.

Whilst Rich was getting ready Tom and I popped to Old Port Royale to fill up our Resort Mugs to take with us to at Magic Kingdom.

By 11am we were all getting hungry, so we headed to Gaston’s Tavern for a late breakfast - sharing a Cinnamon Bun ($4.49( and a LeFews Brew ($5.49), using 2 Snack Credits, but this would have been approx. $10 with Tax. Plus I got a cup of iced water….

The LeFews Brew was really nice, but Tom wasn’t too fussed so stuck to the water. It gave me a bit of a brain freeze, and Rich told me later that it gave him a stomach freeze (if that’s a thing – it made his tummy all cold anyway). The bun was really lovely, and absolutely huge – plenty for the 3 of us (although I reckon I could’ve had a good go at one to myself). I do think that Cinnabon just pips it for flavour and gooeyness though.

At about 12pm we grabbed a bottle of Coke to share from 100 Acre Goods – paying $3.50 OOP.

We had planned to have a late lunch / early dinner at Disney Springs, but that would have meant waiting until 3:30pm and by 1:30pm it was clear that my tummy wasn’t going to wait that long. Tom agreed, so we set out in search of a snack. Rich suggested getting 1 Counter Service meal to share to keep us going, which quickly escalated into the 3 of us having lunch in the park before leaving and turning our Disney Springs plan into dinner plans instead. We pondered a few Counter Service options and ended up at Columbia Harbour House, where we went for 2 x Chicken & Fish Platters ($11.39 each) to share with 2 Cokes ($3.69 each) and used a Snack Credit for an extra portion of Fries ($3.29) – Total approx. $32. We did ask if we could swap a drink for a side (I was going to try the Chowder) but the Cast Member said no. We were glad of the extra drink in the end though.

There was plenty to eat, with Tom having a few Nuggets from each of the platters to make up his own meal. We were all absolutely stuffed, and were glad that we didn’t have desserts to eat, as it would have been too much, even with sharing.

Back at CBR after we’d had a bit of a rest, Tom nipped to Old Port Royale to get us some drinks in our Resort Mugs (lovely Minute Maid Lemonade for me).

Dinner was at D-Luxe (Disney Springs) – we got there at about 5:30pm and joined the queue to order. Again, we decided to share 2 meals, and used 2 Counter Credits on a Classic ($9.99) and a BBQ Classic ($11.99), 2 Fountain Drinks ($3.29 each), and 2 Snack Credits on 2 portions of Fries ($4.99). The total would have been $31.40. We chose Ranch and Blue Cheese as our dipping sauces. We were given a buzzer for the table and cups for our drinks, which I sorted out, as well as some ketchup, mayo and BBQ sauce. Our burgers and fries were brought to the table and they looked amazing…

I cut each Burger into 3, and we shared out the Fries. Both Burgers were lovely, but we all agreed that the Classic was the best – the dipping sauces were good too. The Fries were amazing (even better than Five Guys). We were all very impressed, and D-Luxe will now be a must-do for us.

After a bit of mooching around the Springs, although we were all still full from dinner, we knew that as we’d eaten early we’d probably be a bit peckish later so decided to get a couple of takeaway Earl of Sandwich meals - the boys waited on the wall outside whilst I went in a queued (for about 20 minutes)..

We went for a Tuna Melt for Rich and a Hawaiian (hold the Pineapple) for me and Tom to share. The menu said we could have a Sandwich plus a drink, snack or side for 1 Counter Credit. I was going to go for one of their lovely giant Choc-Chip Muffins (which would have been ideal for breakfast tomorrow), but the server told me the dessert / side had to be $3 or under (the Muffins were $3.49). I picked up a tub of Brownie Bites and a Soft Drink cup, but when I got to the 2nd till to “pay” the server said that I could have a drink and a side / dessert with each meal. I wasn’t going to argue with that, so grabbed another cup and an Oatmeal & Raisin Cookie (the total was $26.57).

We got back to CBR at about 8:40pm, and ate our yummy sandwiches (adding the sides to our “snack drawer”). Here's my half...

Total Day 1: 6 Counter Credits / 5 Snack Credits (approx. $99.60), plus $3.50 OOP
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Day 2 (25th Feb) – Wolfgang Puck Express & a Publix Picnic

My day started at 4:40am, with a cuppa and a few more Marie biscuits, before dropping back off to sleep.

We headed over to Old Port Royale for a drink on the way to Disney Springs – we had plenty of time so we sat down to enjoy our drinks, during which Rich said that he wished that we'd brought the tub of Brownie Bites from last night's Earl of Sandwich to pick at. Tom volunteered to pop back to the room to get them. When he came back, he'd also brought the Oatmeal & Raisin Cookie for me (he's so thoughtful). The Cookie was really nice and the boys enjoyed the Brownies

We filled our Resort Mugs again and were making our way to the bus stop to catch one to Disney Springs by about 8am.

We arrived at Wolfgang’s by 8:45am – it didn’t open until 9am, so we checked out the menu, visited the restrooms and sat for a while on the wall outside. Once Wolfgang’s opened we were first in line, and were soon ordering our breakfasts – A Bacon & Cheddar Omelette with Tea for me ($13.25 + $2.50), a Sunrise Sandwich with OJ for Rich ($11.25 + $3.25) and a Classic Breakfast, with White Toast and Cranberry & Grape Juice for Tom ($13.25 + £3.25) - $49.79 all in with Tax, but 3 Counter Credits for us.

The boys grabbed a table whilst I sorted my Tea – unfortunately they were out of Breakfast Tea, and when I asked our server Monica had a look but couldn’t find a new box, so I swapped my drink for an Apple Juice (which I then swapped with Tom for his Cranberry & Grape as he decided he’d prefer the Apple.

Monica was soon bringing out our breakfasts…

My Omelette was lovely – not overly cheesey, and it had some nice big chunks of Bacon in the middle. Rich enjoyed his Sandwich (which was massive) and Tom liked his Eggs and Bacon but wasn’t too fussed on the Potatoes or Toast so me and Rich helped him with those. We swapped a piece of each other’s Sandwich / Omelette too. We tipped Monica $5.

At Blizzard Beach we bought a Refillable Mug ($10.99 + tax = $11.71), as we knew we’d be coming back for at least one more day. We didn’t end up staying long as it was cold, so only filled it a couple of times today.

We headed out for an afternoon / early evening of shopping at Premium Outlets Vineland and Publix, via Old Port Royale for a drink and a Resort Mug top up to take with us. We were quite tired by the time we got to Publix at 5:45pm, so really didn’t make the most of the room–snacks shopping opportunity, deciding to just sort out our Deli Chicken and some bits to go with it for dinner, grab a few essentials and get out of here as fast as we could.

We decided on an 8 Piece Southern Fried box (a bargain at $7.99), then pondered for a while over sides – eventually going for a pot of Pasta Salad ($3.99) for Rich, Potato Salad ($2.29) for me and a pack of Dinner Rolls ($2.79). We also grabbed a box of 4 Paczki (Polish apple & cinnamon donut type traditional pre-Lent things) – ($4.49) and a 44oz Cherry Coke ($1.79) – That was dinner and dessert sorted for only $20.35 + Tax!

We did have a quick mooch around, grabbing a couple of tubes of Pringles ($1.75 each) a bag of Bugles (£2.75), Lucky Charms ($4.29) some Tic Tacs ($1.29) and a Reusable Bag ($0.99). Tom also chose a pair of sunglasses ($14.99) – bringing our total to $54.92 (inc Tax). We were far too tired to think about carrying anything heavy like Milk or a case of Bottled Water!

By 7:10pm we were back at CBR, had collected some of the paper plates and plastic cutlery that I’d brought with us from our room and were dishing up our lovely little picnic on one of the tables in the courtyard – Here’s my plate (sorry it’s a bit dark, I didn’t think to turn the flash on) ...

This was a really fab meal – I said the same thing last year, but Publix Chicken is sooooo good! The breast pieces are massive with so much white meat. My Potato Salad was yummy, and I loved the sweetness of the Dinner Rolls. Rich wasn’t as fussed about his Pasta Salad, but we all loved this meal (there was quite a bit of leftovers that went into the fridge too).

We were all stuffed, but shared one of the Paczki between us to see what it was like (very nice, and would make a nice breakfast). Over dinner we decided to cancel the ADR that we had booked for Tusker House breakfast tomorrow, agreeing it was a lot to pay OOP for Bacon and Waffles, when we had so many Counter Service credits left and an offsite day coming up too.

Total Day 2: 3 Counter Credits / 0 Snack Credits ($49.79), plus $53 OOP
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Day 3 (26th Feb) – Old Port Royale, Yak & Yeti, Pizzafari, Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie and Liberty Inn

As we’d cancelled our Tusker House ADR last night, there was no need to rush to get to Animal Kingdom this morning. Saying that though, all 3 of us were awake by 6:15am, so we decided to walk over to Old Port Royale to get some breakfast.

Despite taking our time on the walk, we still arrived a few minutes early for the 7am service, but didn’t have to wait too long. First, we paid OOP at the Deli for 2 slices of bread ($0.85 inc. Tax), then we got 1 Mickey Waffles with Bacon ($8.49) with a Cranberry & Apple Juice ($3.39) for Tom and French Toast with Bacon ($7.99) for me, swapping my drink for a Side of Bacon ($2.79) so Rich could make a Sandwich (Total cost approx. $24 inc. Tax, but 2 Counter Credits for us). I got myself a cup of tea in my mug.

Breakfast was nice, but mine could’ve been a bit warmer, especially the Bacon. Rich could’ve eaten his twice (he’s a 4-slice kind of guy). Tom and I went all American and had Maple Syrup with ours.

After we’d finished, I filled my Resort Mug with Milk (which I then transferred into our Blizzard Beach Mug so that we could keep some in the fridge for cereal and tea (having not had the energy to carry a bottle at Publix last night). We all washed our Resort Mugs and filled them with Soda to take back too.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom at 10:30am and by now, Rich was already feeling peckish (having only had the one Bacon Sandwich). So, we thought we’d share a Flatbread from Pizzafari as a mid-morning snack. Unfortunately, it didn’t open until 11am, so we decided to carry on up towards Asia and get some Fried Rice instead.

On the way, I popped into Starbucks to get a Venti sized Very Berry Hibiscus Drink ($4.69 inc Tax) as I wanted to see if it lived up to the good reports on The Dibb...

It was ok, and quite refreshing, but not something I’d pay OOP for.

At Yak & Yeti Local Food Café we used 2 Snack Credits on a couple of portions of Chicken Fried Rice ($4.99 each + Tax), grabbing a table in the seating area behind. Rich had one portion to himself and Tom and I shared the other and they were really delicious…

By 12pm we were ready for some more snacks, so we stopped at the Anandapur Ice Cream Truck and used 3 Snack Credits for a Waffle Cone each ($3.99 each + Tax) – Chocolate for Rich and Choc / Vanilla Swirls for me and Tom…

They were very nice and just what we needed to cool down.

Around mid-afternoon I tried to get myself a Jungle Juice Slushie from the little stand opposite Tusker House (I’d been waiting since last year to try one, when it we were just too hot and tired to walk all the way from Dinoland USA so had had ice lollies instead). Unfortunately, the Jungle Juice machine was broken, so it wasn’t meant to be today either . I paid OOP for a bottle of Dasani water ($3.20 inc. Tax) instead.

We were all hungry again by now (well it was 2pm), so we made our way back to Pizzafari and used 2 Counter and 1 Snack Credit on a Pepperoni Flatbread ($10.49), a Cheeseburger Flatbread ($11.49), a large Coke & Sprite ($3.69 each) and Garlic Knots with Marinara Sauce ($6.99) – Total approx. $38 with Tax.

We’d already tucked into the Flatbreads before I remembered to take the photos…

It was all really nice, even better than last year, and the Cheeseburger one was so good - the sauce was like a mayo / mild mustard mix, and who’d have thought that lettuce word work on a Pizza?

At 3:30 we popped back to Caribbean Beach Resort for a quick rest and change, during which Tom volunteered to pop to Old Port Royale to fill our Resort Mugs. We were ready to head back out to EPCOT by 5:15pm.

After a couple of hours enjoying the rides in Futureland, we headed for Le Halles Boulangerie Patisserie, where we used 1 Counter Credit on a Jambon Beurre ($7.50) and a Cappuccino ($3.99) and 2 Snack Credits on a Palmier ($3.85) and a Biscuit Chocolat ($3.50) – Service at the till area was ridiculously slow, but we were eventually served and the total would have been approx. $21…

Half a Palmier...

Rich had most of the Baguette and the Palmier (which was like an elephant ear) and I had a small bit of each. The Baguette was ok (I’m not a mustard fan), but the Palmier was bland and dry so I left most of my half. I had the Cappuccino and Tom enjoyed his cookie.

I had been pondering whether I wanted dinner part 2 from Liberty Inn (USA) or Lotus Blossom Café (China). The Surf & Turf (NY Strip Steak & Fried Shrimp) looked good at Liberty Inn, and as time was ticking on (it was already after 8pm), Tom and I headed in to order whilst Rich popped to Italy for a nicotine fix.

Despite it being almost empty, service was very slow in Liberty Inn (we realised why when we saw Cast Members in Le Halles uniforms “helping out”). We finally got served at about 8:25pm, sharing a Surf & Turf ($14.99) and an 8 Piece Chicken Breast Nuggets ($10.49) with a normal Coke ($3.69) and a Frozen Coke ($3.99) as our drinks - we were given a bag of Apple Slices too…

Everything was very tasty, and was a great value use of 2 Counter Credits, as it would have come to $35.32 with Tax (I borrowed the server's pen to write down the total) – It was a decent steak, once I’d removed the “tub” of butter (I don’t mind well done) and the Shrimp and Nuggets were good. The only slight disappointment was the Frozen Coke.

Total Day 3: 7 Counter Credits / 9 Snack Credits ($145.20), plus $4.05 OOP
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Day 4 (27th Feb) – Rosie’s All American Café and Wolfgang Puck Express

My day started at 7am with a cup of tea with a Paczki…

I discovered whilst making my cuppa that the fridge was very cold – the milk was a little bit icy and the bottles of water that we'd put n there when we arrived were pretty much frozen solid. Tom had a bowl of Lucky Charms, once I’d persuaded him that icy milk was ok

By 10am we had made Rope Drop at Hollywood Studios, ridden RnR an ToT and were sat in the little shaded recess just behind the Hollywood Tower Coffee Cart, sharing a big Chocolate Donut (approx. $4.50 + Tax) and a couple of Frozen Drinks ($5.39 each + Tax) – we used 3 Snack Credits, but the total was about ($16, inc Tax) …

Hidden Mickey

The Donut was very nice, and I really enjoyed the Mango-based drink. The boys weren’t so fussed on the Strawberry one – I think they would’ve preferred a Coke.

After a fun rise on TSMM we (and especially Tom), were quite peckish again (even though it was only 10:45am). Tom was in the mood for a Turkey Leg, so we headed back over to Sunset Boulevard to see if they still did the Turkey Leg Platter at Fairfax Fayre.

When we got there at 11am, there was still another half an hour until Fairfax Fayre opened. We were all too hungry to wait by now, so we assured Tom he’d be able to get his Turkey Leg another time, and ordered from Rosie’s All American Café – we shared a 1/3 lb Angus Onion Straw Cheddar Cheeseburger ($11.29) and a Chicken Breast Nuggets ($10.49), with a Coke and Sprite ($3.69 each) and got a side of Fries ($2.99) to make it go a bit further (Total £33.40, inc Tax, but we used 2 Counter / 1 Snack Credits) …

It was ok – nothing special (we’ve had much better Quick Service options), but it filled a gap, and the Onion Straws on the Burger were quite tasty. Again, sharing meals was more than enough, and we even left quite a few fries as we were all full.

The park was soooo busy today and very hot, so after we’d our final Fastpass of the day we decided to cut it short, getting some drinks from Peevy's Polar Pipeline on the way out to cool us down, paying OOP for 2 bottles of Coke ($7.02, inc Tax) and using a Snack Credit on a Frozen Blue Raspberry for me ($3.99 + Tax) …

It was nice and refreshing, but I much prefer a Slush Puppie style frozen drink

After a well needed nap back at the resort, we headed for the Fuentes del Morro pool by 3pm, filling our Resort Mugs at Old Port Royale on the way. After an hour we all had a chat about our evening plans and decided to skip Magic Kingdom and have a more relaxed evening at Disney Springs. As this meant that we had a bit more time to spare we topped up our Resort Mugs again and sat for a while in the cool of Old Port Royale, just chatting and relaxing, during which I popped into the Gift Store to get a Quart bottle of 2% Milk ($3.49 + Tax) and a few other bits.

By 6pm we were all showed, dressed and headed for Disney Springs, taking our time when we arrived just enjoying the ambience, getting to Wolfgang Puck Express just before 7pm. Rich chose the Chicken Alfredo ($16), I had the Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf ($17) and Tom went for his usual of BBQ Chicken Pizza, without the Cilantro and Onions ($14.50). The Cherry Coke was “off” (i.e. watery), so we all had normal Cokes to drink ($2.95) – the total with Tax was $60.02, but we used 3 Counter Credits.

We chose a table outside, where it was lovely and warm, and our server Hans was soon bringing out our dinner…

My Meatloaf was awesome, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a meal so fast, and I literally wiped the plate clean with a couple of Tom’s Pizza crusts. We are all glad to have a break from French Fries and we left a $5 tip for Hans.

After dinner, we visited most of the stores at Marketplace and then went into Goofy’s Candy Company as Tom was fancying something sweet. We mooched around for quite a while as Tom was deciding – he picked a bag of Caramel Corn, which we had to pay OOP for ($5.99 + Tax) as it wasn’t a Snack Credit option, and then we used 3 Snack Credits on 2 Oatmeal & Raisin Cookies ($3.99 each + Tax) for me and Tom to have for breakfast tomorrow and a Chocolate Nut Fudge ($4.39 + Tax) for Rich to have now….

We sat on the wall outside whilst Rich ate his Fudge and Tom picked at his Popcorn – I fancied some Ice Cream, so decided to wait to see what Sprinkles Bakery had to offer, but when we got there they weren’t accepting the Dining Plan, and there wasn’t anything that I fancied enough to pay OOP for. I really wished that I’d gone to Ghirardelli’s instead . Rich said we should walk back to get me something, but I was too tired, and was feeling a bit off (with a sore throat and spot of heartburn) so didn’t bother.

When we got back to the room I had a lovely cuppa followed by a glass of Milk to ease my heartburn.

Total Day 4: 5 Counter Credits / 8 Snack Credits ($`17.72), plus $14.40 OOP
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Day 5 (28th Feb) – Frostbite Freddies, Lottawatta Lodge and Old Port Royale

I was up by 6:30am and caught up on my trippie notes until around 9:15am, polishing off 2 cuppas and the Oatmeal & Raisin Cookie that I’d got at Goofy’s last night as I did (the Cookie was lovely).

I didn’t make a note of what time the boys got up, but Tom would’ve had time for some Lucky Charms and / or his Oatmeal & Raisin Cookie, and he also popped to Old Port Royale to get us some drinks in our Resort Mugs. Once we were all ready we transferred one of the drinks into our Blizzard Beach Refillable Mug to take with us as we were going to play a round at WinterSummerLand before heading into Blizzard Beach.

By 11:30am we were on our way into Blizzard Beach where we reactivated our Refillable Mug ($7.99 inc Tax). We were all hungry by 12:30pm. We sorted Tom’s lunch first from Frostbite Freddies, where he’s seen that they did Turkey Legs ($10.99). I asked if he could swap his drink for a dessert, the Cast Member was lovely and said that she couldn’t see why not – there was only one choice, but that was ok as it was an Orange Swirl Cup ($4.99) and having tried my first Dole Whip last year I was keen to give this a go, Tom had already agreed to swap desserts with me.

Then we headed over to Lottawatta Lodge, where I left the boys to find a table and I queued for a Blizzard Burger for Rich (£10.99) and a Chicken Fajita Flatbread for me ($9.99) – choosing 2 lots of Cookies (£2.99) as desserts for the boys. Our total lunch for the 3 of us would have been around $45 with Tax, but we used 3 Counter Credits.

The Orange Swirl was melting fast so I had a bit before my Flatbread, then decided to have it as a sort of “milkshake”, as there was no way that it was going to last until I’d finished eating in this heat.

I really enjoyed my Flatbread – the sauce on it was really nice. I think the boys enjoyed theirs, but Tom was defeated by the Turkey Leg…

He still had room in his “pudding belly” for his Cookies though

Sorry no pics of the Cookies

We were at Animal Kingdom for the evening tonight, where of course the Jungle Juice Slushy was high on my snack priorities. However the machine was still broken (I am destined not to have one of these ). Tom asked for some Popcorn ($3.99) so we used a Snack Credit for this and paid OOP ($3.00 + Tax) for a bottle of Water.

Tom hadn’t realised that it would be salty Popcorn, so wasn’t overly fussed. Rich and I picked at it a bit, but we weren’t in the mood for Popcorn and we ended up throwing half of it away.

After a walk round to Dinoland USA and a few rides we were really hot so we used 3 Snack Credits at Dino Diner on a Frozen Coke for Tom ($3.99), a Frozen Lemonade for me ($3.99) and a normal Coke for Rich ($3.29) to take into Nemo the Musical with us…

NB – We’d decided by now to start using Snack Credits for drinks, as we still had 30 Credits to use up

At the Fastpass tapstyles, we were told that we’d have to finish our drinks before entering the theatre – there was still about 5 minutes of queuing, and Rich drank his coke but Tom and I were struggling with our frozen drinks. We were still really hot and didn’t want to waste them, so we discreetly smuggled them in , and once we were inside I transferred Tom’s into the Blizzard Beach Mug...

We had intended to get something snacky between our Sunset Safari and Rivers of Light, but didn’t have time (we ended up being too late to get into the theatre for a set too), so we were quite hungry by the time we were leaving the park at 8pm, using a Snack Credit on a bottle of Coke ($3.50ish) from the Boneyard Cart on the way out.

Rich was fancying the Turkey BLT Sandwich he’d seen at Old Port Royale, so we decided to head back to Caribbean Beach for dinner tonight. We were too tired to bother going back to the room to pick up our Resort Mugs, so got off the bus at the Old Port Royale.

It was busy, so Rich went to find us a table whilst Tom and I did the various queues. We got Rich’s Turkey BLT first as it was a cold meal – it came with Jerk Tortilla Chips ($10.99). In the queue a rather rude American guest barged her way back to the front, shouting that her Chips were old and stale. The Cast Member looked like she didn’t know what to do, but put a few more in a tray and asked the lady to taste one to see if it was ok – she didn’t and stormed off instead.

Next Tom got into one queue to get his 8 Piece Nuggets & Fries ($9.49) and I joined another for my Create Your Own Pasta, which I had with Chicken Breast & Alfredo Sauce ($11.99) – we grabbed two bottles of Water ($3.00) and one bottle of Coke ($3.29) as our drinks (total approx. $43 inc. Tax, but 3 Counter Credits for us) …

I didn't take a pc of Tom's Nuggets because I took the others whilst he was still waiting for his - they were standard Disney Nuggets though, so here are some from Liberty Inn the night before...

It was gone 9pm by the time we’d got through all the queues and the till. Rich really enjoyed his Sandwich, and said it was one of the best things he’d eaten so far – it had Basil Aioli and thinly sliced Apple on it. My Pasta was tasty (it came with a Breadstick) and Tom enjoyed his Nuggets (why don’t they call them Chicken Tenders anymore?).

I fancied a pudding, so used a Snack Credit on a Mickey Premium Bar ($5), which I ate on the walk back to Aruba…

Total Day 5: 6 Counter Credits / 6Snack Credits ($95.70), plus $11.19 OOP
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Day 6 (1st March) – Boardwalk Bakery, The Post Corner (Clearwater) and Old Port Royale

Today was an offsite day, with a Florida Dolphn Tours excursion to Clearwater Beach. We had to be at The Swan for our 8am pickup, so we had planned an early morning mooch down The Boardwalk, where we could get breakfast and some snacks and drinks to take with us.

By the time we got to the Boardwalk Bakery we’d decided to use a Counter Credit each for breakfast with a drink, and another Counter Credit each to get a snack and drink to take with us...

This plan worked out brilliantly, as the Cast Member said we could have 3 snack items each for our credits. We ended up with a lot of food!

We all went for the Bacon, Egg & Cheese Brioche Sandwich ($7.99), with a Cappuccino ($3.79) for me, OJ for Rich ($3.79) and a small Apple Juice ($1.99) for Tom…

Tom isn’t a big Egg fan, so we asked if he could have extra Bacon instead – they gave him loads…

The Sandwiches also came with a little pot of Pineapple Chunks each (sorry this one's a bit blurry) …

For our snacks, we chose 3 Blueberry Muffins ($3.29 each), an Apple Tarte ($4.79) and a Cheese Danish ($3.59). Rich didn’t want a 2nd cake, so we got another Apple Juice and 3 Bottles of Water ($2.75 each) …

Ever since watching Mac N Me I've wanted a drink in a cup with a little fold out paper handle ...

The rest of the goodies were boxed up to go...

All of this would have come to $69.50 inc. Tax, so it was a really good way to use up 6 Counter Credits on an off-site day!

Unfortunately, it looked like all the seating on The Boardwalk had just been hosed down, so we had to stand to eat as everything was wet, but we didn’t mind. This was probably my favourite breakfast of the whole trip. The Breakfast Sandwiches were really tasty (especially Tom’s which was Bacon heaven). I had the Cheese Danish as my “breakfast pudding” and the boys had a Muffin each. I also ate my pot of Pineapple Chunks – neither of the boys fancied theirs, so I had a go at feeding some to the birds (who’d helped with the Muffins), but they weren’t interested (I did pick up the pieces that they left and put them in the bin).

At Clearwater Beach, we had to pop to the Tikki Bar on the beach by the Hilton, as this is where we got married. We got a can of soft drink each ($3 each + $1 tip), and sat under an umbrella enjoying the shade and the icy drinks – it was lovely to be back here after 11 years…

Lunch was included as part of our excursion, and was at a restaurant called The Post Corner – we headed there early (by 12pm) as we wanted to give our lunch time to settle before our 2pm ride on the Sea Screamer…

It was quite a large restaurant – a bit dated and chintzy but nice and clean and the staff were friendly (but a bit slow). We ordered a Cherry Coke each and had a look at the menu (we had to choose from a limited selection, but there was plenty on there that we liked the sound of). It took a few minutes for our server to bring our drinks, so we were ready to order when she did. Rich and I both went for the BLT Sandwich (on White for me, Rye for Rich) and Tom had Bacon Cheeseburger. All 3 came with Chunky Chips and a Pickle…

The food was really tasty, and the Chunky Chips were a nice change from French Fries. There were no prices on our special menu, so we estimated that the meal would have cost around $40, and left a $6 (15%) tip as the service really had been quite slow, even though there were about 5 servers and less than 10 tables occupied.

On the Sea Screamer e paid $2 each for a can of soda (which we thought was great value), and they had beers too if we’d have fancied them.

After our fantastic ride we had a mooch down past The Hilton to check out Hogan’s Beach Shop, pcking up some drinks from CVS on the way back to the beach – Dr Pepper ($1.99) for Rich, Grape Soda ($1.59) for Tom and a bottle of Water for me ($1.77).

After an amazing day, Tom and I tucked into the last of our Boardwalk Bakery goodies as we drove out of Clearwater (we’d left them on the mini bus along with a bottle of water). I had the Apple Tarte, and Tom had the final Blueberry Muffin (Rich wasn't hungry) ...

Due to traffic, we were a bit later than expected getting back to Orlando, but on the plus side our driver Madeline dropped us off at Custom House at Caribbean Beach Resort instead of The Swan. We got back just as the Star Wars fireworks were going off (just after 8pm). We were all quite tired after our day, so had decided on the journey back that we’d have dinner at Old Port Royale again.

Rich walked back to our room to drop off some bits and pick up our Resort Mugs, whilst Tom and I jumped on the Internal Shuttle and sorted out our food choices. We grabbed a Turkey BLT for Rich as he’d enjoyed it so much last night ($10.99) – I asked for Jerk Chips again (it was a choice of Chips or Salad), but ended up being given a portion of Fries instead, which was Much better. Tom wasn’t mega hungry, so he and I shared a Jumbo Pepperoni Pizza ($9.99) and an 8 Piece Nuggets and Fries ($9.49). We swapped our drinks for a side of Fries for Tom ($2.99), a Cheesecake for me ($4.29) and a Mickey Premium for Rich ($5) – this would have been $45.20 inc. Tax, but we used 3 Counter Credits, and we could come back to collect the Mickey Premium after we’d eaten our entrees….

NB: No food pics tonight due to all the various device batteries all running out, so here is the BLT from Day 5, the Nuggets from Day 4 and the Pizza from Google ...

By the time Tom and I had sorted out the food, Rich had arrived with our Resort Mugs, had got us all some drinks and had found a table. Everything was tasty and hit the spot. We boxed up Tom’s half of the Pizza to go, and also took my Cheesecake back to the room. Rich was too full to get his Mickey Premium, and neither me nor Tom fancied it, so we didn’t bother collecting it from the freezer and just topped up our Resort Mugs before walking back to Aruba.

Total Day 6: 9 Counter Credits / 0 Snack Credits ($114.50), plus $22 OOP (lunch was pre-paid with our excursion)
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Day 7 (2nd March) – Sunshine Seasons, Snacking Around the World, Wolfgang Puck Express and Blaze Pizza

Just to pre-warn you, today features a LOT of food...

I got up early today and popped down to the Laundry to put a wash on, before watching the sunrise from Aruba beach and popping back to the room to get ready for the day and wake the boys to see if they fancied breakfast from Old Port Royale - Rich wasn't hungry, but Tom requested a Cinnamon Bun, so after switching my laundry from the washer to a tumble drier I enjoyed a nice solo stroll down to Centre Town, where I chose a Guava and Cheese Pastry ($3.49), a Yoghurt Parfait ($4.79) and a Cran-Apple & Raspberry Juice ($3.69) for me, a Cinnamon Bun ($3.79) and Apple Juice ($3.29) for Tom and an OJ ($4.29) for Rich - this would have totalled $24.90 with Tax, but I used 6 Snack Credits.

With 3 full Resort Mugs this was quite a bit to carry, so I put it all in one of the handy carrier bags they have and made my way back to Aruba. By the time I got back to the room (picking up the dry laundry on the way), my parfait was a bit mixed up, but it was still yummy…

I didn't write it down in my notes, but I'm sure that Tom would have also had a bowl of Lucky Charms, and I would've had a Cuppa with mine .

After a few rides at EPCOT we were all very thirsty and a little bit peckish by 11:30am, so we decided to try Sunshine Seasons for the first time. Rich popped off for a cigarette and said he’d meet us there and to choose something for him, so Tom and I headed into The Land Pavilion and had a look at the options. There were some really tasty looking Sandwiches, but we wanted to save our savoury selection for the Flower & Garden Festival booths, so went to the Patisserie counter...

We got 2 Chocolate Brownies for the boys ($3.49 each), a Key Lime Tart ($4.29) for me and 2 Cokes ($3.29) for us all to share – this all came to $18.30 with Tax, and we used 5 Snack Credits…

Hidden Mickey ...

My Key Lime Tart was awesome, so tangy and fresh, and one of my favourite desserts / snacks of this year’s trip. The boys enjoyed their Brownies too.

By 1pm we were ready to start our Snacking Around the World mission, stopping of en route to World Showcase at Club Cool (grimacing at Beverley is Disney Law after all )...

We started at Northern Bloom which was just before we got to Canada. We shared a Beef Tenderloin Tips, with Mushroom Bordelaise Sauce and Whipped Potatoes ($6.50) and a Bottle of Water (£3.00) – using 2 Snack Credits…

This was really tasty (I got both the carrots) and I could have eaten a plate full of this as a meal to myself.

France was our next stop and at the Fleur De Lys booth we used another Snack Credit and shared a Poulet aux Ecrevisses: Baked Chicken with Crawfish served with Rice Pilaf ($5.75) – this was really tasty too...

In the USA we stopped at The Smokehouse BBQ & Brews booth, use two more Snack Credits on a Pulled Pig Slider with Coleslaw ($6.00) and a Smoked Pork Ribs with Blackbean Corn Salad ($6.75) …

Tom wasn’t too bothered about the Slider, and I found it a bit dry (Rich hadn’t fancied adding BBQ sauce), so Rich mainly ate the Slider and Tom and I shared the Ribs, which were really nice – I even liked the Salad. Tom enjoyed the Ribs so much that we sent him back to the booth to get another portion to have to himself (using one more Snack Credit).

It was 3:30pm by the time he’d finished, and we headed straight to Fyfe & Drum for a now much needed Coke ($4.00) for the boys and an American Dream ($4.75) for me – using another 2 Snack Credits…

The American Dream really hit the spot, and I felt much better once the sugar kicked in .

By now we had all decided that we’d had our fill of Savoury Snacks and that we’d finish off our Snacking Mission at Karamel Kuche. We used 3 more Snack Credits (taking our total for the day to a whopping 22) on a Caramel Salted Brownie for Tom ($4.49), a Caramel Filled Cookie ($4.49) for Rich and a Milk Chocolate & Caramel Covered Strawberry ($4.99) for me…

We were going to eat these on the boat from Germany to Showcase Plaza, but when we got to the dock there was a sign saying that boats were only running from Morocco today, so we perched ourselves on the railings near one of the high tables and tucked in. They were all really yummy. Tom enjoyed his the least (he was a bit full and I don’t think he was mega fussed on the saltiness of the caramel). Rich and I were too full to finish it off, but there was a hungry duck who seemed very keen to finish it off for us…

After a rest / quiet pool time back at Caribbean Beach resort, we ready to head for another evening at Disney Springs by 6pm, where that plan was to have Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express and then to pick up a couple of Takeaway Pizzas from Blaze for a late night in-room snack ( I know, after everything else we’d eaten today, but we had plenty of Counter Credits to use up and were running out of chances to eat at Disney Springs, so why not ).

We got to Wolfgang Puck’s by 7pm and it was fairly busy. We all ordered Chicken Alfredo ($16) and chose Cherry Coke as our drinks ($2.95) – Total $60.55 with tax, but 3 Counter Credits for us) ...

We chose a table inside tonight (as it was a bit cooler) and all enjoyed our pasta (although we all found big lumps of garlic in it tonight – Rich and Tom even ate a whole piece each before we realised what it was and picked them out). Some bread on the side would have made this a perfect meal (I was missing Tom’s leftover pizza crusts tonight). We tipped $5 and watched from the door to make sure that our server got his tip, as there were other servers clearing each other's tables.

After an hour or so mooching and shopping we made our way over to Blaze Pizza, where we used 2 Counter Credits on 2 Build Your Own Pizzas ($9.65 each) – 1 Peperoni and 1 Chicken & Pesto. It’s set up a bit like Subway, where you move along the queue as different Cast Members add the various types of toppings. It then takes 180 seconds to fire your Pizza. It was a bit disorganised and took a while to work our way down the queue, but still fairly quick as Counter Service places go. Rich and Tom sorted our drinks – 1 Lemonade and 1 Coke (£3 each) whilst I waited for the Pizzas to cook.

We had a bit of a wait for a bus back to Caribbean Beach and were all really tired by the time we got back to our room at about 10pm – Rich and I sat at the table to eat our (now cold) Pizzas, and Tom sat in his rubber ring on the floor …

The pizza was good, not amazing, but then again we were eating it cold. I think we left a few slices and put them in the fridge before getting into bed.

Today had been an epic day food wise, using 22 Snack Credits and 5 Counter Credits, worth a whopping £190! We were now back on track with our Credits with one more full day and moving day to go!

Total Day 7: 5 Counter Credits / 22 Snack Credits ($189.75), plus $0 OOP
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Day 8 (3rd March) – Cosmic Rays, Be Our Guest and Contempo Cafe

Our last full Disney day started with a mini lie in) - We all got up at around 8am and Tom had a bowl of Lucky Charms, whilst my breakfast was a couple of biccies with a lovely cuppa.

We were at Magic Kingdom today, and we spent most of the morning in Tomorrowland, where we grabbed a Coke ($3.50 OOP) from the Ice Cream Cart opposite Aunty Gravity's between rides. We were all feeling a bit peckish by 11:30am, and as we had almost 2 hours to go until our Be Our Guest reservation, we decided to share a meal from Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café rather than use up our last 3 Snack Credits. This worked out really well - we got a Bacon Angus Burger and Fries ($12.99) a Large Coke ($3.69) and an Iced Water (free), which would have been $17.50 with Tax, but we used 1 Counter Credit. I asked the Cast Member for a couple of empty trays explaining that were sharing, and Rich and I used these to get a few bits from the toppings bar – we were in Mushroom and Crispy Onions heaven…

My share...

This was more than enough to satisfy our peckishness, and we spent about half an hour afterwards just sitting and enjoying the a/c, chatting and listening to Sonny Eclipse.

Our Be Our Guest ADR was at 1:30pm and we checked in 1:30pm bang on the 5-minutes early window that they allow at 1:25pm. We had pre-booked our selections at -30 days, choosing a Carved Turkey Sandwich, minus Dijon mayonnaise and lettuce ($15.99) for Tom and a Croque Monsieur ($13.99) and Carved Prime Chuck Roast Beef Sandwich, minus Horseradish ($16.99) for Rich and me to share. All 3 came with Pomme Frites included. I’d also selected just the one Fountain Beverage ($3.29) and had gone for a couple of desserts to share between the three of us – 1 Triple Chocolate Cupcake ($4.99) and 1 Eclaire a l'Orange ($4.99).

However, the Cast Member who was checking our order said that we weren’t allowed to swap our drinks for desserts. I politely explained to her that the official QSDP PDF / leaflet says clearly that drinks can be substituted for any other eligible snack item on the menu, but she was having none of it, just saying that it may be the case in other restaurants, but Be Our Guest is special so doesn’t take part in this . I was about to bring up a copy of the PDF on my iPad, when she changed her mind and said that she’d do it for us just this one time, but that she’d have to ring the two desserts through as Bottled Water as the till wouldn’t allow the swap, and assured us we’d get our Desserts brought out to us . We used 3 Counter Credits, but this would have been $62.50 with tax.

We chose a table in The Ballroom and I explained to the Cast Member who checked our order what the lady who’d checked us in had said about the water / desserts, which she said would be fine. Tom went up to get our Coke and some cutlery.

It didn’t take long for our food to come out, but as it did I could see 2 bottles of Dasani on the trolley and no desserts . I explained again to the 3rd Cast Member, who said that she’d be back in a minute with our desserts…

When Rich caught sight of how rare the beef was he asked if I’d mind not sharing after all (he likes his meat well done), which meant no Croque Monsieur for me this year .

The beef was nice, but there was a lot of meat, and it was cold which meant that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I was expecting to. It would’ve benefited from some salt too so I didn’t eat it all, but the Pomme Frites were nice. Rich and Tom both enjoyed theirs (they’d both had the same last year).

By the time we’d finished our entrees there was still no sign of our missing desserts. I couldn’t see the Cast Member who’d gone to get them, so I got up and spoke to the lady who had checked our receipt when we sat down. She apologised and went straight off to get them, returning after just a few minutes…

Again, I’d really been looking forward to trying these, but we were all disappointed. The Éclair in particular was a bit meh – there wasn’t really anything to it, and the cream was a bit wishy. Whilst we were half way through eating the other Cast Member came out with another set (presumably the missing first ones). I explained that we’d already had them, and she offered to give them to us anyway. We didn’t really fancy any more though, so we politely declined and she took them back to the kitchen.

Once again, we weren’t in a hurry to move after our lunch, so Rich popped off to the restrooms whilst Tom and I sat and took some pics and selfies. Whilst we were sitting, a Cast Member came up and tried to check our receipt again, as if to start our order all over again (our table had been cleared by now). We explained that we’d already eaten, but if we’d have been cheeky (and greedy) we could’ve had our meal all over again. We were a little bit cheeky and had an extra refill of our drink before we left, which we then put into Tom’s Resort Mug to keep it cool .

Whilst it is a lovely setting, and it’s nice to have a proper plate and cutlery, we all decided that we are over Be Our Guest now . The food is nice, but not amazing, and we’ve had issues with service / waiting two years in a row, so we’ll probably give it a miss next year.

We had another dinner plans change tonight, switching Disney Springs for the Contempo Café – after a quick rest and change back at Caribbean Beach Resort we were back at the Magic Kingdom bus stands by 6:30pm, and we walked over to The Contemporary.

We made our way to Contempo Café and decided what we wanted from the menu and dessert counter. The boys went off to get some drinks (we’d brought our Resort Mugs) and to find a table and I queued up to order. The set up here is different, you choose your desserts etc, order and pay at the till and are given a buzzer to put on your table so they can find you and bring your entrees to your table.

Rich went for the Hot Turkey BLT ($11.79) and a Cookie Sandwich ($3.99), Tom chose the Contempo Smokehouse Burger ($12.49) and a Choc Chip Cookie ($2.59) and I chose the Braised Beef Grilled Cheese (£10.99) and a Lemon Tart ($4.99) – all this came to $49.68 with Tax, and we used 3 Counter Credits.

The desserts looked amazing…

I paid and found the boys, then went to get some cutlery and condiments. I was impressed with the napkins and the silver-effect plastic cutlery…

It took a little while for our entrees to come out, but they were worth the wait…

We all enjoyed our meals and would definitely eat here again – mine was very good, and definitely made up for missing out on the Croque Monsieur earlier – it was so gooey and cheesy . We were all too full for our desserts so I boxed them up to go...

After realising it was going to be too much of a rush to get back to the park for Wishes, we did the report monorail loop and were back to our room by 9:30pm. Tom ate his Cookie before tucking down, but Rich and I were still full so I put ours in the fridge.

NB - Rich told me a few weeks later that he’d woken up in the night and ate his Cookie Sandwich – he said it was really nice

Total Day 8: 7 Counter Credits / 0 Snack Credits ($129.68), plus $3.50 OOP
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Day 9 (4th March) – Wolfgang Puck Express, Earl of Sandwich, Mel’s Drive-In and Bayline Diner

Today we were saying goodbye to Caribbean Beach Resort, and making the first of our 2 hotel moves, so w allowed ourselves a bit of a lie in. I was awake at 7am, but spent a nice relaxing hour writing up my trippie notes for Thursday whilst having a cuppa and my yummy Lemon Cake that I had left over from last night’s dinner at Contempo Café…

All sorted with check out, we sorted out leaving our luggage with Bell Services and walked over to Barbados to catch a bus to Disney Springs, as our final onsite breakfast was to be Wolfgang Puck Express (making it 4 visits this year).

We headed straight for Wolfgang’s when we arrived at the Springs (10:30am) – I went for Cornflake French Toast ($11) with a Cranberry / Grape Juice ($3.25), Rich had a Bacon Cheddar Omelette ($13.25) and a Fountain Drink ($2.95) and Tom had a Belgian Waffle, minus Whipped Cream ($10) and a Fountain Drink ($2.95) – this all came to $46.23 with tax, and we used 3 Counter Credits.

We chose a table outside in the lovely sunshine and our breakfast was with us in no time…

NB - The Omelette pic is my breakfast fro last week as we didn't take a new pic today...

I really enjoyed my French Toast, especially the banana pieces with the toasty flakes, and the boys enjoyed theirs too.

We had 3 Snack Credits left and I’d been intending to use mine on a Ghiradelli’s Ice Cream but I was far too full after my breakfast, so we headed for Goofy’s Candy Co, where Tom and I pondered for a little while before deciding on 3 bags of Goofy Sweets (Mike & Ikes, Sour Worms and Gummy Sweets) – These were $5.49 each, and came to $17.97 with Tax. The store was full of guests literally piling their baskets with goodies – one guy must’ve had about 30+ items, so I left feeling a bit smug about our Snack Credit Management.

That just left us with 1 Counter Credit left to use, and we had a plan. I had signed up to the Earl of Sandwich Reward Club before our trip and had a $5 voucher on my iPad. So we were going to use the Credit on one meal and then get 2 Sandwiches OOP, using the voucher towards them. I had my little polka-dot lunch bag with me so that we could take these away for lunch once we got to Cabana Bay.

Even at this early hour, the queue took about 15 minutes, so the boys sat down whilst I jumped in. I got Rich’s Earl’s Club ($7.45) as part of the meal, with a tub of Cookie Bites ($2.99) and a Fountain Drink ($2.99) – Total $14.31 with Tax, then did a separate transaction for an All American ($6.99) for me and a Hawaiian, minus Pineapple ($6.99) for Tom – with the $5 off this came to $9.57. And that was it, our Dining Plan Credits were all used up…

We sat down to drink our drink, and by the time our Sandwiches were ready (11:30am), Rich said that he could actually eat his now, whilst it was hot, so he tucked in for an early lunch…

Rich really enjoyed quote a few different sandwiches during this year’s stay, but he says that The Earls Club is definitely the best of them all

I wasn’t really hungry, but Rich’s Sandwich looked so nice that I opened mine up, thinking I’d eat half now and half later. After one bite though I knew it was the wrong decision, so I wrapped it all back up to save for later.

We were all checked in at Cabana Bay Resort by just after 1:30pm – we left our bags with Bell Services and popped down to Bayline Diner, where we picked up a Sonic Fill Mug ($11.99 for 48 hours) and a 3 Musketeers Bar for me ($1.99), before grabbing one of the booths. We filled our Mug with Pibb (almost as good as Dr Pepper which is Rich’s usual drink of choice and something he’d really missed whilst in the Disney bubble) Tom and I tucked into our Earl of Sandwich offerings with some Pringles that I had in my bag. As I also had my 3 Musketeers, I took pity on Rich and gave him half of my All American…

Tom’s Hawaiian…

We had a couple of Pibb refills during our hour by the pool and to take with us to Universal Studios. After a great few hours enjoying the park we picked a spot for the Mardi Gras parade just opposite Mel’s Drive In at 6:45pm.

It was a little bit nippy sitting on the kerb and I fancied a Hot Cocoa to warm me up. I popped into Mel’s to get one ($2.79), and also got a portion of Fries ($2.99) to share to keep us going until dinner, and a Coke ($3.29) for the boys. With Tax this was £10.34 (sorry, I didn't take a photo of the fries).

The fries were really tasty, and we probably could have eaten a couple of portions. The Cocoa was a bit sweet but nice and it did the job of warming me up.

After the parade, our plan had been to grab a Panda Express for dinner, but when we got there the queue was huge (at least 30 minutes by our reckoning), so we decided to head back to Cabana Bay to see what Bayline Diner had to offer. The boys decided on Pizza, getting a Peperoni ($10.75) and a Cheese ($9.95) to share. I went for Roast Chicken with Mashed Potatos, Corn on the Cob and Gravy ($11.50) – all in at $34.30 with Tax, and great value for money…

My Chicken was fantastic, and just what I needed after 10 days of mainly fries-based meals. We had a couple of Pibb refils with our dinner, filled up again to take back to our room and we were ready to head up by 9:30pm.

Total Day 9: 4 Counter Credits / 3 Snack Credits ($78.51), plus $68.42 OOP
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Which brings me to the end of our onsite stay. Over our 9 nights / 10 days at CRB we had the equivalent of $1117.42 of food and drinks (inc. Tax and our 3 Resort Mugs) – that’s $124 per night. Excluding tips, we spent $121.21 on OOP Food and Drinks, so the QSDP worked out as really great value for us.

[HEMANCLOFTY]

Part 2 (Offsite): 2 Nights at Cabana Bay and 3 Nights at Rosen Inn Pointe Orlando

Day 10 (5th March) – Cinnabon, China Max and in-room Picky Bits (leftover Pizza and Pringles)

I woke the boys up at 8am, and sent Tom down to Bayline Diner to fill our mug and to get a cup of milk (using the paper cups and lids provided in the room). Once he was back, he had some Lucky Charms and I had a cuppa and some biscuits for my breakfast. Luckily, I’d picked up some extra tea bags from Old Port Royale before we’d checked out, as this was my last decaf tea bag from home (so my 20th in-room cuppa ).

After an hour or so ticking off all the rides in Superhero island, we ended up down by Me Ship The Olive, where Rich enjoyed some nicotine, and Tom and I enjoyed some Pringles (we always seem to end up eating Pringles here).

It wasn’t the warmest of days, with predicted highs of 73 / 22, so after getting a proper soaking on the Bilge Barges we decided to head back to Cabana Bay to get changed and go to Fun Spot a bit earlier than planned. We stopped off at the Cinabbon at Port of Entry on the way for a late breakfast – a Classic and Tea combo for me ($5.99), a Pecabon for Rich ($5.29), a Minibon for Tom ($3.29) and a Coke ($3.29) for the boys to share…

These were very yummy, and gooey and warm.

Whilst paying at the counter for our Fun Spot day passes, we also paid $7.99 for a souvenir cup, which gave us free refills for the rest of 2017 (an absolute bargain if you are local or visiting more than once). We were given a ticket for this to redeem at any of the refreshment counters.

After a couple of rides, Tom got in the queue to redeem the token for our souvenir cup whilst Rich and I went on Space Invader (a ride that Tom had no intention of trying out). He was still in the queue when we came off the ride, we hadn’t been long but there was only one server and he was busy doing an order of Funnel Cakes and Deep Fried Oreos (neither of which looked or smelled very appetising). We eventually got our cup, then had to go to the side of the booth where we had access to the drinks dispenser (all the refreshment stands had these, so there was no need to queue for refills). They had Dr Pepper so Rich was happy ...

We made good use of the cup during our 3 hours at Fun Spot, and had about 5 refills.

We headed to Premium International Outlets after Fun Spot, and straight for the Food Court, where we found this…

Noooooooooooooooo! Five Guys was closed! (Five Cries)

We decided on China Max instead, given that we’d missed out on Panda Express last night. We shared 2 x 1 Entrée Plates, both with Fried Rice and Orange Chicken ($7.29 each), 2 Egg Rolls ($1.69 each) and a Large Coke ($2.69) – a bargain all in at $21.99 with Tax…

The chicken was very nice, but the rice was a bit bland and needed some Soy Sauce to liven it up a bit. I enjoyed the Egg Roll but Rich wasn't overly impressed.

We were back at Cabana Bay just after 8pm. We filled up our mug on the way to the room, where we had a few Pringles and a slice each of leftover cold pizza (no pics) whilst we were getting changed into our swimmers and blew up our 3 rubber rings before rounding off the day with 45 minutes in the Lazy River.

Total Day 10: $49.42 OOP
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Day 11 (6th March) – Bayline Diner, Buffalo Wild Wings and Room Snacks

I multitasked this morning and got most of our packing sorted in between dressing and munching on some Belvita and drinking my cuppa. Tom had a bowl of Lucky Charms and we were all ready to head out by 7:40am - stopping off for a resort mug top up on the way...

After Early Entry and a couple of hours at IOA we were ready for a Frozen Butterbeer by 10am ($7.50 inc Tax) which we shared whilst walking around to our final ride of the morning (Dr Doom’s Fearfall) before heading back to check out and grab some bread and bacon from Bayline Diner to make the Bacon Sarnies that we’d enjoyed so much last year. The Butterbeer hit the spot and was gone by the time we got to the smoking area by the lake near to Seuss Landings...

Sorry, no Butterbeer photo

However, having got caught I a longer than expected queue, we didn’t arrive back at Cabana Bay until 11:03am (breakfast finishes at 11am). I said that we should still check out Bayline Diner just in case they were still serving breakfast, but Rich had talked himself out of the idea now and didn’t even want to look.

We’d finished the last of the packing and had checked out by 11:30am, so we headed down to Bayline Diner for what would now be an early lunch. We decided to share a couple of Bacon Cheeseburgers ($11 each), spreading it out a bit with an extra portion of Fries ($3.15) – total $26.78 with Tax. I did ask the server if we could buy a side of Bacon and she said yes. I offered Rich the chance to swap back to Bacon Sandwiches, but he’d really gone off the idea by now, so we stuck with the Burgers…

Rich had one burger to himself, and Tom and I shared the other. They were really tasty. We were a bit cheeky and got a Raspberry Sprite in our resort mug, then transferred it over to the Fun Spot cup for me (I was Pibb’d out by now) – and the boys had a couple of Pibbs whilst we were sat eating.

Hidden Mickey used condiment pots...

After a couple of lovely hours chilling out, snoozing and relaxing by the pool, at 2:30pm I popped to the Pool Bar to grab a drink refill, but when I got to the bar, I found that the 48 hours on our resort mug was up. I didn’t have any cash with me so I popped back to Rich and we agreed that this was our cue to make a move and head down to Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando.

After checking in for Floziday Part 3 at the Rosen, we called in at the Lite Bite on the way to get a drink each ($2 each for 20oz bottles), and a small bottle of 2% Milk ($1.79) on the way to our room.

After unpacking, resting and getting changed for the evening we headed over to check out the new CVS. It was massive, much bigger than our usual favourite Walgreens, and we enjoyed checking out various prices, souvenirs and sweets. It was particularly good to see these M&Ms, as last year we'd taken part in the vote for the new flavour at the M&Ms store...

We just bout a bottle of Pepsi Crystal ($2.12 inc Tax) for now, as Tom and Rich were keen to try it. I thought it tasted like normal Pepsi with just a hint of Sprite, but that could have been my brain playing tricks as it was clear...

After a slow mooch up and around the IDrive 360 area, it was finally time for the reason we’d walked up this way. Thanks to the many glowing reports of The Dibb (particularly from Wizzo), we were going to give B-Dubs a try tonight…

Our server Christian was very friendly and sorted us out with some drinks - Mist Twist (the new name for Sierra Mist) for me and I think the boys had Dr Pepper and / or Pepsi ($2.98 each but just looking at the receipt now, he only charged us for two). We decided to share everything, and went for a Large Traditional Wings with Sweet BBQ Sauce ($20.99), regular Fries ($3.59), regular Onion Rings ($5.59), Mac & Cheese ($3.79) and Garlic ‘Shrooms ($6.79) – a bargainous total of $49.56 inc tax for all of this…

Yes, it was a sea of beige, but it was all so so delicious . We all thoroughly enjoyed our meal. There were sooooo many Wings, and they were immense, with little bits of crispy skin, and the sauce was just right, even if we are wimps and went for a mild one – I did not fancy dealing with the next day effects of the hot ones, I’ll leave that Floziday experience to Wizzo .

After nipping to the ladies to check my face for rogue sauce smudges, we left $60 and rolled our way back out into the fresh air of International Drive at about 8:45pm, and headed Dave & Busters.

We popped into CVS again on the way back to the room, picking up a 3 Musketeers for me, a Reeces Peanut Butter Cup for Rich and a Dove Bar for Tom (these were $1.25 each, but only $1 if you bought 2 or more candy items). We also picked up a 2-litre bottle of Dr Pepper ($2.27) and a 1.25 litre bottle of Sprite ($1.27) – it took 11 days, but we finally had some “Room Pop”.

Total Day 11: $112.05 OOP
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Day 12 (7th March) – Five Guys and Pizza Hut Takeaway

Today started with a lazy morning at the hotel, and (no surprises) my breakfast was a cuppa and some Belvita, whilst Tom had his usual bowl of Lucky Charms.

We spent the morning shopping at Florida Mall, mainly so that we could have 5 Guys for lunch, having missed out the other day when the one at Premium International was shut. By 11:30am we were all quite hungry, and none of us was particularly bothered about doing any more shopping, so we headed for the Food Court, where we tried a couple of the free samples that were on offer, but there was only one place on our minds – Five Guys, and yes, it was open…

Rich and I both went for Little Bacon Cheeseburgers ($8.49 each) – mine with Mayo, Lettuce and Tomato and Rich’s plain. Tom had a Bacon Cheeseburger ($6.59) with Ketchup, and we got a Large Fries ($5.59) and a Chocolate Shake ($3.99) to share. Total with Tax was $35.31. Our server was very friendly and asked where in the UK we were from. When I told him the Midlands, he said that he’d been to visit family in Telford .

Our burgers were fantastic as usual, and they surpassed themselves with the quantity of Fries…

I was actually beaten by my Burger for once, and we still had loads of Fries left. I think it may have been the Milkshake that was just a tad too much. I even had to pop to FatOnes (as in Joey Fatone off-of NSYNC) to get a Coke ($2.12) to help to wash everything down, but I still struggled and left loads.

After a rest, some pool time and a bit of gift shopping back at The Rosen, Tom and I popped into the Lite Bite for a cuppa for me ($1.25), as I was rationing my leftover tea bags by now – I used the milk back in the room for this rather than the little long-life pots.

We spent the evening at Universal Studios, and after a couple of rides (including a technical rehersal on the new Jimmy Fallon ride) we grabbed a Coke to share ($3.51) and mooched up through Muggle London. Then a bit later on, we got another Coke ($3.51) and a Churro ($4.78) to take into watch Fear Factor with us.

After a brilliant evening, we were back at The Rosen by 9pm, by which time we were all a bit peckish, so decided to get a Pizza Hut takeaway on the way back to the room – we ordered a Large Pan with Ham ($17.14), a double order of Garlic Bread ($6.99) and an 8-Piece Boneless Wings with mild Buffalo Sauce ($7.49) – it all came to $33.68 with Tax, and took about 20 minutes.

By just after 9:30pm we were all sat on Tom’s bed having our Pizza picnic, along with our Room Pop that we’d bought last night…

It wasn’t amazing – the Pizza was ok, but the Garlic Bread was very greasy and the Wings were pretty nasty , so we left most of those – it filled a hole though.

Total Day 12: $84.16 OOP
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Day 13 (8th March) – Lite Bite Snacks and Millers

Another day that started with a Cup of Tea & Biccies for me, and Lucky Charms for Tom

As we were walking to the Rosen Inn lobby to book our Uber, Rich decided that he was peckish so we popped into the Lite Bite to get some “breakfast” snacks, and drinks to take with us. Some Hostess Donettes ($2.89) and a Dr Pepper ($2) for Rich, Chips Ahoy Cookies ($1.29) and a Dr Pepper ($2) for Tom and a Blueberry Muffin ($2.79) and a Mist Twist ($2) for me – total with Tax, $13.61…

We ate our breakfast whilst waiting for the Uber to arrive (I only ate half of mine), before we headed to Universal Studios.

After an exhilarating ride on Rip Ride Rocket for me and Rich, we were both a bit wobbly-legged, so we sat in the shade with Tom for a while. I finished off my Muffin and the boys had some Pringles that I had in my bag.

A few fun hours later, Rich popped off for a cigarette and brought back a Coke for us to share ($3.51) as we watched the 12:15pm Animal Actors show, then we completed our Universal Studios morning with a visit to Diagon Alley as it really was hot today and we fancied some ice cream from Florean Fortescue’s. A Soft Serve Butterbeer Waffle Cone for me ($6.49), a Hard Pack Chocolate Waffle Cone for Tom ($6.99) and a Soft Serve Chocolate Cup for Rich ($5.49) – total $20.21 with tax…

We sat on the Gringotts steps to eat them. I really enjoyed mine, but I think Rich was a bit disappointed that his was more Vanilla with Chocolate Sauce than Chocolate. They didn’t really cool us off either, it was so hot!

We spent the afternoon at Islands of Adventure, then had a quick 30 minutes rest back at The Rosen before heading for Miller’s Ale House at 5pm. This was our first visit to Millers and we were really impressed. We went for a table inside and were seated straight away (it was pretty quiet) – I had a Mist Twist and Rich had either a Pepsi or Dr Pepper (I can’t remember) - $2.89 each. To said he didn’t need a drink as he had his Dr Pepper from the Lite Bite with him (we explained to him after that this isn’t the done thing in a restaurant).

Our server Elise was really good, recommending the Wednesday dinner special, an 8oz Sirloin with 2 Sides ($12.99) – I went for that, choosing Coleslaw and upgrading my other side to Loaded Fries (having seen them on the Dibb), which were an extra 95c. Rich went for the Cajun Chicken Pasta ($11.99) and Tom chose the 35 Shrimp, going for the Fried option ($11.95). It didn’t take long for them to come out…

Yes, that is 35 pieces of shrimp – Rich and I had quite a few pieces each, and I gave Tom a bit of my steak in return (as he really loves steak).

We all absolutely loved this meal – my Steak was cooked (medium) to perfection, and the Coleslaw was the best I have ever had. The Loaded Fries were nice, but I think if I had this again I’d go for a Baked Potato instead, which would have gone brilliantly with the creamy Coleslaw. Rich really enjoyed his Pasta, and Tom was in Shrimp heaven .

We were too full to even think about dessert, and we had plans to spend the rest of the evening at EPCOT, so we asked Elise for the bill, which was $46.50. As our cash was running low I decided to pay this one on my debit card – I ticked the 20% tip as it was more than deserved, but Elise rounded it down to $9, so all in it was a $55.50 meal – an absolute bargain, and we all voted this the best dinner of the trip.

We spent the evening at EPCOT, where I got us a bottle of Coke and Sprite to share (£2.95 each + tax) from a stand in China whilst we waited for Illuminations to start.

By the time we got back to The Rosen at 10:10pm Tom was feeling a bit peckish, so we had a look in the Lite Bite, but he didn’t fancy anything, especially not the $6 Rustler-style burgers or what could possibly be the most expensive cheese slices in the world …

He said he’d just have some Pringles back in the room, and we just got a Dr Pepper ($2) for Rich, a Tea ($1.79) for me and a small 2% Milk (94c) to see us through our final morning cuppa and Lucky Charms.

Total Day 13: $109.75 OOP
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Day 14 (9th March) – Lite Bite Snacks, Millers, Virgin VS76 and Home

Our last day started (for me) at 7am, when I got up to do the packing. I was almost done by 8am, so woke the boys and had some Belvita biscuits and a cuppa whilst Tom had his last bowl of Lucky Charms of the Floziday.

By 9:30am we were all checked out and we had another Lite Bite “breakfast” – Donettes ($2.99) and a Dr Pepper ($2) for Rich, a Cookie ($2.79) and a Dr Pepper ($2) for Tom and a Cheese & Berries Pastry ($2.79) and a Mist Twist ($2) for me – Total $15.71 with tax…

We sat outside of the front of The Rosen to eat them, before heading for our final park morning at Hollywood Studios.

After a couple of rides and a show, we were hot and ready to leave the park by 2pm - We were all thirsty, so shared a Coke ($3.50) from the Joffrey’s Cart on our way out...

We got an Uber straight to Miller’s Ale House on I-Drive. We’d enjoyed our meal at there so much last night, and it was such good value that it was the perfect choice for our “last supper” – we even agreed that it had taken our favourite restaurant “top spot” from Copper Canyon Grill (which we didn’t even make it to this trip).

I was torn by a couple of options on the menu, but went for the Seafood Mac N Cheese, which came with Shrimp & Scallops ($12.99). Rich went for a Chicken Sandwich with Bacon & Mushrooms ($9.49) and Tom had a Bacon Cheeseburger ($9.69) – we all had sodas to drink ($2.89 each).

Our server Michael was very efficient, and our meals were soon with us…

I did regret my choice a bit as my pasta was a bit on the wishy side – it really could’ve done with a more substantial protein, like breaded shrimp or chicken which would’ve made it perfect. Not a bad meal, just a bad choice for me. The boys really enjoyed their burgers, and for $43.50 plus a $7.50 tip, it really was excellent value for money.

We were back at the hotel by 4pm. The boys got themselves a Dr Pepper each ($2 each) from the Lite Bite (I had a Sprite in my Hand Luggage which had been in the room fridge earlier), and we sat outside the front of the lobby at one of the little bistro tables.

We were through Security and air-side by 7:20pm. Final boarding for us was 7:35pm so we had a couple of minutes spare to use the restrooms and for me to pop into Stellar News to get us a bottle of water each ($2.79), Dr Peppers for the boys and a final Mist Twist for me ($2.79 each) – Total $17.29. I paid with our last $20 bill, which left us with just over $3 to bring home.

Our flight boarded and took off about 30 minutes late. Once we were in the air we all enjoyed our mini Pretzels and I had a Coke with mine (the boys didn’t want drinks).

It wasn’t long until dinner was served. Tom’s kid’s meal pasta was almost the same as the Vegetarian option that Rich chose. Tom didn’t like it, and wasn’t impressed by the rest (Hummus, stale bread sticks, crackers and a very lemony cake), so just ended up picking at some Pringles (It’s a good thing we’d had a decent late lunch)…

Tom's...

Here was Rich’s Vegetarian Pasta…

And my Beef Bourguignon…

Rich ended up eating both the Pastas and a bit of my Beef (I didn't like it at all). I ate the Salads, all 3 sets of Crackers (with the weird cucumber flavoured cheese) and tried a bit of Tom’s Hummus, as I’d never had it before (I quite liked it). None of us liked the Lemon Cake – it was sickly sweet, but I managed to eat mine once I’d scraped the frosting off.

I manged to get about 3 hours sleep, waking at 5:30am when the lights were switched back on ready for breakfast to be served. Both boys were still sleeping – I accepted breakfast for all 3 of us, even though I knew the boys would be unlikely to want to try any of it (I was right). It wasn’t amazing but I quite enjoyed the Blueberry Pastry, Blueberry Yoghurt and Fruit Pot – with two cuppas…

We landed at 8:45am – 15 minutes early, and were grateful for the bottles of pop that we had left in the car for the journey home. We stopped off some bread and milk and were home by 12pm. Tom went straight to bed. Rich and I managed to stay awake until 2pm, helped by some Corrie on the TV ad some lovely simple tuna mayo sandwiches and a big cup of tea…

The perfect meal after two weeks of indulgence

Total Day 14: $91.46 OOP (+ £2.10 for Bread & Milk)
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Which brings me to the end of our offsite stay (and the end of our Floziday). Over our 5 nights at Cabana Bay & Rosen Inn (excluding the day we moved to Cabana Bay, as I counted that it Part 1), we had the equivalent of $446.84 of food and drinks (inc. Tax, Tibs and our Cabana Bay & Fun Spot Mugs) – that’s $89.37 per night, no not too bad at all.

That brings our total Floziday food totals to £1117.42 on the QSDP plus $626.90 OOP

Thanks for reading along

[DisneyDreamer81]

Just binge read this in one go - loved it!

[HEMANCLOFTY]

Originally Posted by DisneyDreamer81

Just binge read this in one go - loved it!

See more...

Thanks you

[Smilesonfaces]

Just had a look through your report. Thanks for going to do much trouble. We only have tickets for MNSSHP so will look forward to your offsite report !

[HEMANCLOFTY]

Originally Posted by Smilesonfaces

Just had a look through your report. Thanks for going to do much trouble. We only have tickets for MNSSHP so will look forward to your offsite report !

See more...

Thanks very much

[wozza]

I do love a food report

[sha9]

Excellent report! We always do DDP but between this and Loves2plans report I can see the attraction of QSDP.

[stepee]

Great post! Loads of good information. Really helpful for my own planning.

[Excited6910]

My DD6 just said reading this with me had made her feel hungry. We've picked up a few snack ideas from your report so thanks for sharing. We have 140 to use up on our holiday so every bit of info helps