You Used a Snack Credit on a COKE? - WDW, Universal, Sanibel - **COMPLETE**

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Jamthemackem

What a great report loved reading it.

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Sorry this reply is out of order, Jam - I am not very good with technology.

Thanks so much for reading - I hope you found some things useful for planning your own holiday meals!

[mrmoo123]

Originally Posted by GopherLass

Thanks for checking in - it's good to know they finally let you out of the Danish love dungeon.

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Who said they let me out?!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by mrmoo123

Who said they let me out?!

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[Guest]

Day 22 (R.C.’s Birthday!)



I had “spent” all our remaining quick service credits last night in the hotel gift shop - because I assumed that R.C. would not wish his birthday breakfast to be consumed Chez Disney (and I assumed correctly).



We all got ready and I presented Hubby with the breakfast choices nearby...


I was sure he’d pick Perkins, but he surprised me by saying, “Let’s go to IHOP!”



That’s right...If you have a car and you’re staying at Saratoga - there’s an IHOP only ten minutes away…




Sorry, I was charging my phone this morning - the photos are off the IHOP website.



Breakfast, IHOP (Lake Buena Vista)

We had a lovely waitress - and she was obviously listening to our accents as we ordered. When we were finished she pointed to Poot with her pen and said, “Aw, he a little half and half”.



Poot LOVES being an American citizen (as you know) - and I fear this rather hurt his feelings.


“I’m not a ‘half and half’ - I was born in America to my American mother. I’m as American as you are!”


Our waitress just looked at him over her glasses and said, “OK, then. Do you eat French fries with ketchup or MAN-AYS?”


“Mayonnaise. Or salt and vinegar.”


“Then you is YUR-A-PEE-UN, baby. No doubt about it.”



I just laughed, but Poot was still trying...



Him: “Well...maybe I’m an American with...good taste in condiments!”



Her: “Maybe you is, baby. Maybe you is.”



I tried to keep a straight face, but it was hard...



We had two “Split Decisions” ($8.59 each) - the waitress happily brought us an extra plate so Poot and I could share.

R.C. got all the eggs, and Poot and I shared the rest of one breakfast. Everything was piping hot and delicious. Poot loves trying all the different syrups at IHOP -

- but I stuck to honey this morning.



For those of you who like the on-site vs. off-site debate...as a comparison, at IHOP this:

was $8.59.


At the Saratoga Springs QS (Artist’s Palette) this:

Was $8.49.



Disney, you are making it hard for me…



Poot had a glass of tap water. R.C. and I had orange juice. Total bill including tax and 20% tip: $30


I have been looking at the prices for the Free DDP package next year - and right now SSR is coming in nearly £1,100 dearer than it was for this holiday. As I look at the prices of our off-site meals, it seems sensible to think about booking later (during the free nights offer) and just paying OOP for food.



It’s so funny - I am of two minds with the DDP. On one hand, I really liked having everything paid for in advance. It was fun to try all the tapas-y bits at the Food and Wine Festival - and Lord knows I like a steak - but I KNOW that it would be cheaper (and healthier) to pay OOP. And at the table service restaurants, I often find the starters more interesting than the mains….


I know - first world problems!


Seriously, though - is anybody else out there debating this before booking (or, indeed, waiting to book) for 2018?


We went back to Congress Park - Poot and I walked up to the Carriage House while R.C. shaved, packed his case - and drank his required three cups of tea.


Off to Sanibel Island!


I knew we’d want to stop for groceries (and beer) before we drove onto the island, so when tummies began to rumble after a few hours, I suggested to R.C. that we stop for lunch.



Lunch, (Truck Stop) Arby’s (Punta Gorda)



Let’s talk guilty pleasure foods, people. For me, when we’re at home in Europe it’s:

in England. And these little beauties:

in France. Words fail to describe how much I love nems au porc…


Please don’t make me feel like I’m the only person whose favourite foods aren’t kale and Quorn...


But because we usually eat pretty healthily at our house, Poot also has some guilty pleasure foods - and one of his is Arby’s.

You never hear about Arby’s on the Dibb. Maybe no-one on the Dibb goes to Arby’s. Or maybe it’s like Fight Club, and we just don’t talk about it…



We FINALLY saw an Arby’s signposted at Punta Gorda - it was just off the Interstate and easy to find. BUT...this wasn’t a standalone Arby’s - it was built onto a truck stop.

Poor R.C. - he lets pick Poot out his birthday lunch restaurant - and ends up at a truck stop! I am a cruel wife, I found it pretty funny.


You should have seen his face when we walked inside…

...as you can imagine, he was DELIGHTED to hear me quote my grandfather (who was “thrifty” and used to say): “You can’t eat the ambiance!”



R.C.: Thank the Lord for small favours, then.


Me: Oh, R.C. - You made a joke!



Poot knew EXACTLY what he wanted:

French Dip & Swiss - served with jus & potato cakes ($7)


The verdict: I had a sandwich with potato cakes. It was delicious!



Arby’s has some of my favourite junk food, too - I had one of Poot’s potato cakes and a “jamocha” shake ($2). These are SO good - chocolate with just a tiny hint of coffee.

R.C. gets discombobulated in places where you have to order at the counter - so per usual he just went and sat down after asking me to “order him something he’d like”.


Weighted down by this great responsibility ( ), I ordered him the Buttermilk Chicken Cordon Bleu - served with fries ($7):

He really liked this - despite the fact that it didn’t look quite as “pretty” as the one in the photo above. As you can gather, I did not take pictures of our food at Truck Stop Arby’s.


Poot absolutely loves the sauces at Arby’s (and I do, too). They do a horseradish one called “Horsey Sauce” and a vinegar-y BBQ one called “Arby’s Sauce” (Yay! When I went to look up a picture of the sauce to post I saw that you can now buy the sauce in BOTTLES to take away...Horsey Sauce, you are coming home with me!).

Well, with all that sauce - by the end of the meal, Poot’s face looked like a Jackson Pollock painting - so I sent him to wash up.


I hadn’t really thought about walking THROUGH the truck stop when we stopped to get lunch. But to get to the restrooms we had to walk past MANY magazines that might, shall we say, be of interest to lonely truckers…



You’re not at Disney World anymore, Poot!



Lol...only I could talk for so long about a fast food lunch!



Back on the road - more classical music finger-tapping - we came off at Fort Myers and headed west towards the islands. Right before the Sanibel Causeway is a busy road with many restaurants and shops. One of them is a Publix, and we decided to stop for our week’s groceries now (we had made really good time on the journey and couldn’t check into our resort until 4:00 PM). For those who are planning this route - it took us just under four hours to get from WDW to Sanibel - and that included our lunch stop.


There IS a Target just down the road from Publix, but R.C. wanted to go to Publix, and it WAS his birthday, after all.


The Publix liquor store was right next door - we went there first.


And as regards the liquor store, you’ll be pleased to hear that the R.C. WAS NOT carded ( ) - they quite happily sold him sixteen bottles of beer. Again, because it was his birthday, I did not tut or roll my eyes when it took him THIRTY minutes to pick out said beer. I can’t remember them all, but I know he got some Goose Island Winter Ale (I remember this one because I actually like it):

...and some more Magic Hat (I like this one, too - it tastes of apricots rather than beer ).

Yum.


We also picked up some fizz for Thanksgiving.

We put the booze in the trunk of the car and headed into Publix proper. Our resort on Sanibel had a full kitchen, so I brought “real food” and a roll of tin foil to line pans (I draw the line at scrubbing roasting pans on holiday).



What did R.C. want for his special birthday dinner?



Steak, of course!



I picked out four rib-eyes, potatoes (and the fixings to make them “twice-baked”) and some salad-y bits. I had drawn up a little list and menu chart - so we were in and out of the store in less than an hour. Here’s what we bought - since this is the food report, you get an itemised list!


DM will only eat organic produce, so all fruit/veg was organic - and I bought as much organic meat & dairy as I could.



2 massive heads romaine lettuce

1 bag carrots

1 head celery

1 head broccoli

1 punnet cherry tomatoes

1 sack russet potatoes

2 onions

1 “bag” chives



1 pint strawberries

1 bag oranges

1 bunch bananas



4 ribeye steaks

2 lbs bacon

1 chicken

1 lb sliced turkey

1 lb sliced ham



1 gallon milk

1 dozen eggs

1 pound butter

1 local chèvre

1 Vermont cheddar

1 container sour cream

2 lbs yogurt

1 lb cottage cheese

1 container hummus


1 bag frozen potstickers

1 frozen pizza


2 boxes breakfast cereal

1 box Bisquick

2 boxes crackers

2 bags cheddar popcorn

2 loaves bread

1 bottle maple syrup

1 bottle ketchup

1 jar mayonnaise

1 box Pop Tarts


Poot loves picking out his “holiday Pop Tarts flavour” - this time it was:

1 roll tin foil


As for drinks, we bought:


2 litres Diet Coke

6 bottles water

16 bottles of beer

1 bottle Asti Spumante (there was NO WAY I was paying $40 for “proper” champagne)



and - to take back to London:


1 pack Q-tips



Total Cost: $225



I’ve read a lot of threads about how it’s cheaper to eat out than it is to buy groceries - but the ingredients for R.C.’s birthday dinner cost $30. A steak dinner in the hotel restaurant would have set us back more than the cost of ALL the groceries (and booze!). Obviously I did as I would have here and bought the cereal, crackers, etc...that were on offer. Because my favourite flavour is “on sale”.


We also had at least five pounds of Halloween candy (left over from our night at MNSSHP) and all the snacks I bought with our leftover DDP credits. But that food kept us (4 adults & the petit gourmand) for a week - minus Thanksgiving dinner, a mid-week top-up (milk, etc…) and two light meals back over on the mainland. Which I don’t think is bad value at all.


At our "unit" (at Casa Ybel - on Sanibel Island) I quickly popped the potatoes in the oven - and helped DM hide something special in the fridge.


After bringing in all the luggage, Hans and R.C. headed off to the pool bar.

Later that night they told us that the barmaid looked like Rosa Klebb -

- but I think if that were true then they wouldn’t have made so many visits to that pool bar over the next week!



Hans LOVES to barbeque - so when he and R.C. got back from their drink with Rosa - he led the men down to the grills (there’s a grill right outside every building) while DM and I finished assembling the rest of dinner. It was all “go” when the chaps came back, but I did remember to take a snap of the potatoes, which turned out really nice.

We all sat down to the big birthday dinner - grilled steaks, twice-baked potatoes - and mounds of crisp salad. You will NOT be surprised to hear that I passed on the steak and just had spuds and salad - I couldn’t eat another bite of beef.

To drink, we opened up the bottle of (California) Cabernet Sauvignon that management had left in the room as a welcome gift:

We all like a drop of wine now and then - here are our opinions:



Me: Hmm, tastes like cough syrup. (Can you tell I don’t like California reds?)


DM: Well, it’s better than COUGH SYRUP, April - and it was free.


Poot: It tastes like wine.


Hans: I think I’d rather have a beer…


R.C.: Good idea! I’ll get us some beers, Hans. We’ll let the ladies finish the wine.



I put the wine in the fridge; I knew I could throw it into a recipe some time in the next few days. I wasn’t going to waste my dessert calories on that!



Time for cake...


DM and Hans had stopped at Jerry’s (one of the two grocery stores on the island) to pick up a birthday cake (and some ice cream) for R.C. I failed to photograph it - but here’s photo of a cake from the Jerry’s Foods website.

R.C.’s cake looked nothing like this one ( ) - but it did have the American frosting flowers. We all LOVE American cake & frosting - and well done, Jerry’s! - this one was



Writing “Jerry’s” I’ve just remembered that back in 2012 I was in the yogurt section at Jerry’s with Miriam Margolyes - and she asked me to recommend an American yogurt (which you know I couldn’t do, because...ectoplasm). It was ALL I HAD not to make the turnip joke…

...anyway...Sanibel has a theatre (which is why Lady Whiteadder was there), and I meant to see what was on while we were there but...didn’t.


If you would like to find out who my favourite James Bond is ( ), see our non-food activities for today - OR read Poot’s “mini report” for Day 22 - the Day 22 post in the main trippie is HERE .

[Sindysam]

Brilliant just finished reading it all. Looking forward to reading more 😊

[MissFortune]

All I have to say is

Love your stories.

[sha9]

I get your debate about booking with free dining for next year. We're absolutely not going next year and the free dining offer hasn't tempted us like it normally does. I'll be interested to see what room discount they offer next year and see if that changes our minds. I'm thinking cheap flights, room discount at a value and eating offsite...

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Sindysam

Brilliant just finished reading it all. Looking forward to reading more 😊

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Why thank you, Sindysam. I'll do my best not to let you down. No more truck stops, though...

Originally Posted by MissFortune

All I have to say is

Love your stories.

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Aw, thanks. I WANTED my reports to be like MrsPumpkin's - lovely and specific, with great photos and lots of maths. But I can only be me - and it's all about the story for me.

Originally Posted by sha9

I get your debate about booking with free dining for next year. We're absolutely not going next year and the free dining offer hasn't tempted us like it normally does. I'll be interested to see what room discount they offer next year and see if that changes our minds. I'm thinking cheap flights, room discount at a value and eating offsite...

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Ah, sha9 - it settles me a bit to hear you say that. I just CANNOT justify an £1,100 increase from last year to next year. Even downgrading to a moderate and the QSDP we'd be spending £500 MORE than we did last year (when we were at a deluxe with DDP).

The food's better (and WAY cheaper) offsite - I love the DDP for convenience more than anything (but also because I am a poor self-legislator and like having things "sorted" before I leave England).


Thanks so much for your feedback. I appreciate it.

[mrmoo123]

Originally Posted by GopherLass

I hadn’t really thought about walking THROUGH the truck stop when we stopped to get lunch. But to get to the restrooms we had to walk past MANY magazines that might, shall we say, be of interest to lonely truckers…

See more...

Where did you say this truck stop was?

I remember going to an Arby's on Orange Blossom Trail way back in 98 on a trip with my parents before I flew the nest... I wondered why I hadn't come across one again! As I recall they were one of the best burgers i'd had at the time... even the chef burning the bottom of her belly that was drooping out from under her uniform t-shirt on the grill didn't put me off! I'll have to hunt one out - Arby's that is, not the chef.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by mrmoo123

Where did you say this truck stop was?

I remember going to an Arby's on Orange Blossom Trail way back in 98 on a trip with my parents before I flew the nest... I wondered why I hadn't come across one again! As I recall they were one of the best burgers i'd had at the time... even the chef burning the bottom of her belly that was drooping out from under her uniform t-shirt on the grill didn't put me off! I'll have to hunt one out - Arby's that is, not the chef.

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That's right mrmoo, come for the food - but stay for the specialist literature and partial nudity.