collybird vs Deluxe Dining Plan [a Fall 2017 Report] - COMPLETE

[walt4it]

Delighted to have found your report

Have subscribed to ensure I get to read the rest too.
What a great foodie start to your holiday

That breakfast in Glasgow airport looked good!
As has much of everything you have posted so far.
Will be glad to read along and I am sure you will finish your report before I do mine

[collybird]

Yesterday was my ADR day, so exciting I couldn't sleep last night because I was lying their imagining all the yummy things we'll be eating in 179 days!

DAY 5
Monday 25th September 2017

TRATTORIA AL FORNO

We had a 7.30am ADR at the Boardwalk for the Bon Voyage Breakfast. We valet parked at the Boardwalk Inn for $25 (the cost is now $33) so we could walk to Epcot after eating then spend the day there. The restaurant opens at 7.30 so we were one of the first parties to be seated, we were given a table near the open kitchen, which I liked as I love to nosy at everyone else’s food.

Breakfast is a pre-fix menu which you can see here. I had recently read Stewboy’s review of this meal and he had noted the server had offered upcharge drinks, such as lattes, but hadn’t explained that these are not included in the pre-fix cost, ours did the same, but the server at the table behind didn’t, so something to be wary of. She didn't list the drinks that were included so I had to specifically ask for fruit juice and a chocolate milk for Nik.
Service here wasn’t great, the server was pleasant enough but very slow.

We started with a frying pan full of pastries, I was pleasantly surprised with how good these were. The strawberry turnovers and star pastry were my favourites, they even trumped my usual fave the chocolate twist, the muffin was just okay, the little candy/chocolate pieces looked pretty but tasted very synthetic.

The menu, and other dining reviews I have read, say that you are given a choice of a Fruit Bowl or Berry, Yogurt and Granola Parfait, but we were automatically brought the fruit, as was everyone else as far as I could see. I was a little disappointed as I love parfait. The fruit was nice though, I normally find blackberries and blueberries sour, but these were lovely.

Nik ordered King Triton’s Shipwreck al Forno – calzone with soppressata, bacon, sausage, blend of cheeses and Sunday gravy. It is presented with the triton through it but then they take it away, so I had to take this blurry photo quickly! The runner that brought the food said he would let me take a picture before he whisked it away This was a massive portion, Nik only managed half but he really enjoyed it.

I really struggled with what to choose from the menu, so much of it appealed to me. In the end I went for Golden Frittata – prosciutto di parma, piquillo pepper, scallion and pecorino romano cheese with roasted potatoes. I was a little disappointed in my choice, the peppers made it a bit too spicy for my tastes, the potatoes were lovely though.

Flynn told Nik to smoulder… The character interaction here was really good, it was fun to meet the Princes (Flynn, Rapunzel, Ariel and Eric all appear). The only one we have met before is Prince Charming at 1900 Park Fare in 2013, Nik still talks about how arrogant he was haha. Each table has a little autograph card on it, but the characters do still sign books.

This meal came to $72.42. We enjoyed a breakfast without the chaos of a buffet, this may be the way forward for us in future, but I don’t think we would do this particular one again as we have tired slightly of character meals. I would recommend it for Princess fans, or for someone looking for a reason to visit the Crescent Lake resort area. Despite the slow service, our early ADR time slot allowed us plenty of time to stroll to the International Gateway and we easily made rope drop, as was my plan.

***

CHEFS DE FRANCE


Lunch was at Chef de France in World Showcase. This is somewhere I had been wanting to eat for as long as we have been visiting Disney, the exterior of the restaurant is beautiful and there’s lots on the menu that appeals to me. Disappointingly, in the last year they have discontinued their lunch menu and they now serve the same one all day, you can view it here.

We were given a lovely table by the window, I was thrilled with this as when we went to Paris a few years ago I’d imagined myself sitting in a café, just like this one, eating by the window, that didn’t happen due to some tooth related drama. Aurora walked by as we were eating and waved at me, so I was very happy.

Our server was Paul, he was very efficient and I was interested in hearing his experience of the Cultural Representative Program.

The bread was nice, nothing to get overexcited about!

There was never any doubt about what Nik would have as his appetizer, Bisque de homard – lobster bisque. He thought that The Boathouse’s soup was nicer, but this one had some nice chunks of lobster.

I really struggled to choose from the menu, there was so many things jumping out at me, I love escargot, smoked salmon and the flatbread sounded divine but in the end, I had the Assiette campagnarde – rustic assortment of French pates and charcuteries. I LOVED this one, of my favourite things from the trip. I may, or may not, have used our bread to slather the pate over. And, Paul may, or may not, have brought us some more.

Nik’s entrée was Gratin de Macaroni – macaroni baked with cream and Grueye cheese. He didn’t have any complaints about this, personally I like my macaroni a little saucier!

I picked the Filet de saumon marine auvin blanc et citron – white wine and lemon marinated salmon, briled, served with rice champagne sauce. This was a massive portion! In the picture it looks very moist, but it wasn’t a patch on the Hollywood & Vine salmon and dryer than I’d have liked, although this is something I often find an issue with grilled/broiled salmon. I’d have liked more sauce! I’m not a big rice fan but this was quite nice, very tender, almost a risotto like texture.

The dessert menu was divine! All of my favourites were there, and despite me deciding five years ago that I had to try the profiteroles I was swayed by the promise of mint cream an went for Gauteau au Chocolat – chocolate layer cake with chocolate mousse, chocolate sauce and mint chocolate ice cream. Paul also said this was his favourite of the desserts. I wasn’t wild about it, I’d have liked more mousse as it seemed a little dry. The mint ice cream was lovely though, nicer than the ice cream at L'Artisan des Glaces.

As a side note, the profiteroles have now disappeared from the menu Now I'm disappointed I didn't have them.

Nik had Meringue aux fruits rouges – meringue basket with fresh berries, vanilla cream, raspberry sauce and strawberry sorbet. Pavlova is one of my favourite things in the world, so I really should have had this, it was as good as it looks.

Lunch came to $104.76, quite pricey but they do have a pre-fix menu which would bring costs down if paying out of pocket. I really enjoyed the whole experience of dining here, despite not being in love with my own meal, and would absolutely come back again.

***
NARCOOSSEE’S

We headed to the Grand Floridian for dinner at Nik’s favourite restaurant. On arriving at the resort, we were direct to park over by the Villas. This was a little frustrating as it’s a longer walk, but as we discovered on subsequent visits to the resort, it now seems the norm. When we arrived at Narcoossee’s to check in the (very small) waiting area was jam packed and very uncomfortably hot, this has always been our experience here, and we’ve also always had quite a wait past our ADR time, these aspects don’t make for the greatest start to a Signature dining experience.

We had dined at Narcoossee’s twice previously and on both visits we were lucky enough to have a window table, this year we were seated at a two-top opposite the window, I wasn’t too disappointed as we’d hit the jackpot before, so it's only fair other's get their turn. Our server was Chevy (he introduced himself saying ‘as in Chase’ haha) he was pleasant enough, but he wasn’t very Disney-ish.

The bread here is always delicious with a yummy salted butter, this was Nik’s favourite bread so far, but I think I liked the rolls at The Boathouse better! It's sourdough and comes still warm from the oven.

I am teetotal but wanted to get in on the cocktail fun so I asked which mocktails they had, The choice is quite scant, but seems to be improving each year – strawberry daiquiri, pina colada or a virgin mojito. We both had a strawberry daiquiri, disappointingly, these were very, very sweet and we felt like we had had dessert too early!

You can view the current menu here.

The DxDP had started to catch up with me, I wanted to leave plenty room for my main so I opted for the Artisan Romaine Wedge – romaine wedge with warm bacon vinaigrette, herbed mascarpone, tomato, avocado, onions and parmesan. This was quiet refreshing, nice and light, although the bacon vinaigrette was very over-powering.

For the second time today, Nik ordered Maine Lobster Bisque – butter-poached lobster, coral, chives. This was his favourite of the three so far, and had the most lobster. Clearly he didn't get the memo regarding ordering different dishes for the sake of an interesting trip report

We both had Grilled Grass Fed Filet Mignon – Yukon gold rustic mash, seasonal vegetable, red wine-oxtail reduction. The steak was beautiful, the best of the trip, cooked to perfection and melt in the mouth, I can still taste it now! But, the mash was lumpy! I am convinced that this was how it was supposed to be, as surely a Signature restaurant wouldn’t make such a basic error.

I also ordered some Sauce Bernaise, this was perfectly executed and a great accompaniment to the steak.

We had ordered sodas alongside our mocktails and these were not refreshed once throughout our meal, I don’t think our server would have been so stingy if we had been drinking wine!

I had my favourite Disney dessert, Almond-crusted cheesecake – with lambert cherry sauce. This is wonderfully sweet, beautifully creamy and I’d eat it every day if I could! My favourite dessert in Disney.

Nik had the Coconut and Chocolate Crème Brulee – layered coconut and chocolate with whipped Chantilly cream and toasted coconut. He said this was ‘exceptionally good’ but too sweet.

Happily Ever After was taking place whilst we were dining, Nik’s chair was facing the window so he could see, I could too if I swivelled around. Viewing Wishes from the restaurant is a special, special memory for us, but the projections involved in the new show mean you really can’t appreciate it from Narcoossee’s. If you wish, you can head outside to the boat deck which surrounds the restaurant and watch the show from there.

Dinner came to $175.28, thank goodness for the dining plan! Afterwards we had a stroll around the resort, the Grand Floridian is beautiful and visiting is an experience in itself.

TOTAL SPEND SO FAR $1,102.59

[collybird]

Originally Posted by Scotty

Macsween is my favourite, I used to buy it freshly butchered at their shop in Edinburgh. Every independent butcher will have their own recipe. Many Glasgow eateries will have it on the menu. How long are you up for?

Sorry for jumping on this thread OP.

See more...

Please don’t apologise Mo, chat away!

Originally Posted by walt4it

Delighted to have found your report

Have subscribed to ensure I get to read the rest too.
What a great foodie start to your holiday

That breakfast in Glasgow airport looked good!
As has much of everything you have posted so far.
Will be glad to read along and I am sure you will finish your report before I do mine

See more...

So excited to have you here, thank you for reading! I can only dream of having a trip as long as yours to write about.

[walt4it]

Originally Posted by collybird

So excited to have you here, thank you for reading! I can only dream of having a trip as long as yours to write about.

See more...

It takes far too long to write - I am just amazed a the places you have eaten already- Chef de France will be a first for us in the summer.
Loving all of your pictures and menus too, not sure we would have time for everything else if we were attempting the maxing out of DDP+
Really looking forward to reading along

[OB1LukeLucas]

Your report keeps winking at me even though I told myself I was going to wait till you were finished before I read it all, what can I say I love food, I'm on a diet, I enjoy torturing myself reading about lovely food! Anyway I'm pleased I started it I thought it might be a good idea just before I go to sleep so I can't be tempted to raid the kitchen cupboards 😊 I'm impressed at how many meals you have tried so far, no wonder there aren't many snacks-the ice cream sundae did sound amazing though. I'm a bit disappointed for you on the salmon being a bit hit & miss and the listerine tuna, yack! I do think you need to give fresh tuna another try. I'm having a bit giggle at April's comment on you buying McDonalds for breakfast, I wouldn't be thinking of spending any extra money if I was on the dining plan. Then I got to the EMM and tour and did think you were slightly crazy as food was in with them...that's just my wanting to beat the dining plan logic! Actually I think it's great that you can relax and choose what you fancy instead of having to always go with the most expensive option-I do hope you did beat it in the end, can't wait to find out!
I love that you started your trip with a KFC my eldest has just discovered that it's her favourite fast food, she is dying to try a KFC in Florida to see if it tastes even better. I doubt we'll even get the chance as we didn't manage to tick it off her list in August and it's not looking good to happen this year. She does love the chicken in Tomorrowland Terrace so fingers crossed it will open again when we go this year. I'm going to make sure we try the soup in BOG. We are only doing qsdp so I don't have the worry of deciding which restaurant makes the ADR list but it's all stored there for future visits. We are booked for breakfast at Tusker House so we can get ROL and breakfast at Ohana so the girls can see Stitch but I'm really torn whether to keep them both as neither of them particularly like breakfast foods and it would save me a fortune. I'd much rather spend the money on other nicer TS meals. You have definitely made me want to try Trails End and The Boathouse among others but that will have to wait until the girls eat food other than chicken tenders and I'm on the ddp. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your dining extravaganza.

[Juliemack]

We only ever tend to have a few ADR's even when we stay onsite. Chef de France has been one of my favourites for whole experience, great server, great food and generally just the ambience of the restaurant. Disappointing that your salmon didn't live up to its appearance, I would have definitely gone for that. Nik should also stick with what he likes with his penchant for lobster bisque, that way we get some proper research and we all know where to have it... and also where not

[missdopey]

Loving this report! It’s been keeping me going through my last days of my countdown! Thank you! You’re making rethink some of our reservations now 😂

[DisneyDreamer81]

I am dying to try that cheesecake at Narcoossee's. Every time I see a picture of it I want it more! I think the description of the mash as "rustic" probably does mean that it was supposed to be lumpy. Not sure I'd have been a fan of it either - I like my mash as smooth and creamy as possible!

Really loving your report. And so impressed that Nik had two lobster bisques in one day! That's my idea of heaven!

[mick]

Another lovely day of food


Joan

[MrsSilverStar]

Very cheeky of the servers to try and push the more expensive drinks, thanks for the heads up on that.
Your starter at Chef de France is absolutely my idea of heaven! Looks delicious.
Another amazing day of food.