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Old 19 Jan 17, 02:30 PM  
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Before I start the posts for our DDP days, I want to pop in a thread I started about something that worried me before we left for Florida. Feel free to skip it and go straight to the food!


The thread was “Being Rushed at Disney Restaurants”, and here was my post:


Being hurried through a meal is my dining pet peeve.


I've read a few Dining/Food Reports recently where people's starters came at the same time as their mains, etc...


Was being hurried through meals a problem for you at WDW?


And..


Has anybody had good luck with asking for a better paced meal - or managed it by waiting to order mains until starters arrive, etc...?


All advice appreciated! I don't want to be in and out of CRT (3 courses!) in 45 minutes…



Thanks to all the lovely Dibbers who replied to this thread - so many of your comments were helpful! Here is my post-holiday report:


We were rushed once - at Via Napoli. Our waitress (who was perfectly sweet) tried to hand me the bill as she delivered our desserts and said, "I assume you want the tip charged to your Magic Band?"


Hmm...


I did not reach out for the bill, smiled and said, "But we are still dining."


Blank stare. She put the bill on the table and left.

About five minutes later she came back, pointed at the bill and said, "Do you have that ready for me?"


I smiled again and said, "I haven't opened it. We are still dining."


I saw the penny drop then.


I did expect better from an Italian!


The restaurant that I was worried about was Cinderella's Royal Table - but we had a FAB time there. Cinderella offered to teach my DS to waltz (he said "Yes, please"), the food was lovely - and we enjoyed a leisurely meal thanks to our excellent waiter (I've forgotten his name ) - he was Moroccan - and thought we were French...


Now, finally...on to the DDP days!

Edited at 02:53 PM.
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Old 19 Jan 17, 04:21 PM  
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Great updates. Love your humour
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Old 24 Jan 17, 12:47 PM  
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Originally Posted by lolalolo86 View Post
Great updates. Love your humour
Thanks so much - I really appreciate hearing that!

Posting first DDP day in a minute...
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Old 24 Jan 17, 01:44 PM  
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Day 7 - First Day on DDP


We had our last Garden Grocer breakfast before checking out of POFQ. I had gauged the amount of food we would eat pretty well - and so all I had to do was pack up the last of the cereal and twenty or so water bottles (to take with us to Saratoga Springs).



Snack, Starring Rolls Cafe (Hollywood Studios)





We’re not really snackers at home, so our two weeks on the DDP were going to be an especial treat for Poot - and I pretty much let him pick out whatever he wanted. There’s so much walking, I figured he couldn’t make himself sick...but that didn’t mean he wouldn't try...


We had breakfasted early, and our lunch wasn’t until one - so around eleven or so we stopped at Starring Rolls to try one of their famous cupcakes. Poot picked out the Butterfinger one ($5 - we used 1 snack credit). I also asked for a cup of (free) ice water.

Not exactly a thing of beauty without…




...but within was hiding...this!




Butterfinger cupcake - a chocolate cupcake, filled with fudgy chocolate frosting - and piled high with vanilla buttercream covered in Butterfinger crumbs.


The Disney Food Blog calls this cupcake “one for the frosting fans”...and the DFB is right!

So...much...frosting…


We shared - we still couldn’t finish it- at which point I began to worry that two weeks of this:




would lead to a lifetime of this:





A couple hours after our cupcake, we checked in for lunch at Mama Melrose. I was pretty pleased to grab a 1:00 PM rezzie with our Fantasmic Dining Package - in the past I’ve only seen weird times like 3:30...


Lunch, Mama Melrose, Fantasmic Package (Hollywood Studios)


Reviews I’ve read of Mama’s have differed wildly, so I was a little nervous about this meal - our first EVER DHS table service meal that wasn’t at the Sci-Fi...did I mention I struggle with change?


You can see from this photo - the check-in area at MM is really narrow, and it gets crowded:




We had to stand while we waited for our table to be ready. The wait itself wasn’t long, though - we were soon shown to a table along the banquette.



You can kind of see the banquette in this snap (not of our family, obviously...Hello! if this is YOUR family...):





I do think a woman alone with a child usually gets the worst table in the restaurant, so I was happy enough with our spot.


Our waiter was Moroccan (a BUNCH of our Disney waiters were Moroccan) and very efficient. He straight away confirmed that we were on the Fantasmic package and explained to us exactly what we would get (a soft drink, any starter and any main - followed by a shared “dessert sampler”).

The Fantasmic package is good value on the dining plan - you only use one credit, but you get three courses (rather than the usual two).


Poot was 9 while we were at Disney, but a few months ago, I upgraded his (UK Ultimate) ticket - at a cost of £30 - so that he could order adult meals at our TS restaurants.

He was very excited to get eating. We normally share meals in America - it was fun for him to pick a meal without having to think if it was something we would both like. Come to think of it, that was fun for me, too!


We were first brought bread and olive oil - we just nibbled at this (though the bread was good) because I knew there would be more food coming…






FWIW, I didn’t care for the olive oil, it tasted a little...rancid, almost. I’d much rather have had butter. I *may* have a problem with butter...




For his starter Poot picked the Caprese Salad: fresh Mozzarella and vine-ripened tomatoes - balsamic drizzle, olive oil and sweet basil leaves ($9.50)




I just ordered a Caesar: crisp romaine lettuce, creamy Parmesan dressing and herb croutons $9




As you can see, there was A LOT of parmesan on my Caesar...


Both starters were pretty good - better than I expected. My Caesar was enough salad for two or three people - I ate about a third and put down my fork - still two courses to go!


Poot saw saltimbocca on the menu and didn’t even look at the other entree choices. It was made with pork tenderloin, rather than veal - but it was still good. Very heavy on the cheese, but good. The broccolini wasn’t mushy - and the “green” flavour really helped to cut the richness of that cheesy pork.





Saltimbocca - Pork Tenderloin topped with Prosciutto, Sage, Fontina Cheese, Tuscan Mashed Potatoes, Broccolini, and Lemon Caper Sauce $28


I might have ordered the saltimbocca as well - but we have an agreement in our family to always get different meals - just in case one is dreadful.


So I went for:

Charred Strip Steak - with four-cheese macaroni with pancetta, aged balsamic-shallot butter, and Chianti Wine Reduction $33




I do love American beef - and the strip steak had good flavour, though it was a little bit...chewy. I had read great things about the macaroni - it was heavy and very, very rich.

This meal needed some veg! - so I had half of Poot’s broccolini, which helped.


We sat for a wee while after the waiter took our plates - then he came out with the Dessert Sampler:




Miniature versions of Mama’s favorite desserts: Valencia Blood Orange Cake, Lemon Cheesecake topped with Passion Fruit Pearls and Tiramisù ($6)


Neither of us like coffee, or coffee flavours, so we just left the tiramisu (I meant to ask for this one to be swapped for another of the others, but I forgot ). The other two desserts were OK - they reminded me of the desserts you get at Disney buffets.

Do you know what I mean? A general sort of sweet, creamy taste - but no real standout flavours or ingredients.


It was nice to have a little taste of something sweet, though - and I did really like the little passion fruit pearls - they were a nice combination of sharp and sweet.


We were brought our Fantasmic vouchers with the bill - they look a little like this:




We used two TS credits to pay the food bill and tipped our waiter 20%.

I would TOTALLY do the Fantasmic package again (if I were on the dining plan). The food is pretty good - and the seats for the show are great. It was also nice to get a starter, as I am one of those weirdos who would rather have a starter than dessert!



Snack, Sweet Spells (Hollywood Studios)


Poot asked if he could get a snack to take up to Fantasmic - so we stopped in Sweet Spells:





And Poot picked out a chunk of Cookies and Cream Fudge ($4.39, we used 1 Snack Credit):




I had a little nibble of this...it was SO sweet it made my teeth itch!


To be fair to Poot though - I probably would have loved this as a kid. Heaven knows Poot gobbled it up. I'm not sure when my tastes changed...but that SUPER sweet stuff (candy floss, white chocolate, THIS!...) just doesn't taste as good to me as it used to.

I can still eat an ENTIRE BOX of Junior Mints, though...




...and I don't mean the little box - I mean the cinema-sized box. Sigh.

If you want to see our snaps from our non-food adventures at Hollywood Studios OR see our Fantasmic! experience (or see a map of Chile, lol) then...

Day 7 (Checking into Saratoga, Hollywood Studios and Fantasmic!) is Here

Edited at 12:46 PM.
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Old 24 Jan 17, 11:08 PM  
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Just catching up on this report, love the humour and your real views on the food, very helpful, thanks!
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Old 25 Jan 17, 12:15 AM  
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Great update.
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Old 25 Jan 17, 12:49 AM  
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Just come across your report and loving it so far. You've got a great way of writing and sense of humour. Look forward to the rest
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Old 25 Jan 17, 08:17 PM  
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Just read all of this, great funny report so far, looking forward to the rest!
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Old 25 Jan 17, 09:09 PM  
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Loving reading this report Your humour throughout is great!
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Old 25 Jan 17, 11:33 PM  
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Thanks for report, fun and tasty to read!
Cheese curds still to be tried by us, one for next time?
Your DS has such amazingly varied tastes. Mine has only just got into different flavours in his teenage years
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