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Reports and Reviews for Dining and Restaurants Trip Reports |
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22 Sep 19, 02:06 PM |
#1
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Imagineer
Join Date: Oct 11
Location: Dundee
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collybird's Unfinished Business [a Fall 2019 Report] - COMPLETE
With less than two weeks to go, I had imagined starting my Pre-Trip Report in a flurry of excitement, instead I am caught up in the stress of the Thomas Cook situation. Fingers crossed it can be saved, an awful time for customers and staff.
Let's talk food in a bid to distract ourselves. *** Contents Day -1 Frankie & Benny's - Glasgow Airport Day 0 Sonoma - Gatwick Day 1 Kona Cafe Day 1 Geyser Point Day 1 - Boma Day 2 - Yak & Yeti Day 2 Maya Grill Day 3 Cinderella's Royal Table Day 3 - Be Our Guest Day 3 - Yachtsman Steakhouse Day 4 - Bon Voyage Breakfast - Trattoria al Forno Day 4 - Hollywood Brown Derby Day 5 - El Mercado de Coronado, Sunshine Seasons and Food & Wine Festival Day 5 - Le Cellier Day 6 - Crystal Palace and Rix Sport Bar & Grill Day 6 - Narcoossee's Day 7 - STK Orlando and El Mercado de Coronado Day 8 Raglan Road, Catalina Eddie and Morimoto Asia Day 9 Akershus and Food & Wine Day 9 - Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill Day 10 Via Napoli and Food & Wine Day 10 - Boatwright's Day 11 - 1900 Park Fare Day 12 - Liberty Tree Tavern Day 12 - Citricos Day 13 Skipper Canteen Day 13 - California Grill Day 14 - Chefs de France and Food & Wine Festival Day 14 - Monsieur Paul Day 15 - Cheesecake Factory Day 16 - Sonama - Gatwick Airport Introduction Hands up who believed I would really stick with QSDP?! Just me?! Oh well. If you are here for the promised QSDP mixed with offsite dining report then I am very sorry to say you will be disappointed, as SURPRISE once again, we upgraded to the DELUXE DINING PLAN! It was a long road with many twists and turns which I’ll spare you all from, there were SO many changes that I even bored myself. This year we have reverted to the OG cast of just Nik and I. This will be our 8th trip to Florida, we’re spending 14 nights in the World with no car hire meaning no naughty offsite culinary adventures. We unexpectedly were able to add an extra two days onto the start of our trip very close to travel and will be spending one night at All-Star Sports and one night at All-Star Movies before we kick off our trip proper at Coronado Springs, our home for the remaining 12 nights. Normally, I’m not one for a Pre-Trip report but I am hoping it will help with accountability and I won’t flake out on ADRs because then I’d be letting the Dibb down haha. I am super excited to be doing the Deluxe Dining Plan once more, trying some new restaurants and laying to rest the ghosts of last year’s trip. The Rules Yes, there are rules. 1. We have to eat at EVERY cancelled ADR from last year (hence ‘Unfinished Businesss’), you may be thinking that surely that can’t be that many as we still made it to 20 ADRs, but you would be wrong. We missed 12! 2. Eat some new places, somehow last year we didn’t make it to any new restaurants. 3. Eat at the resort, we stayed at Coronado Springs in 2017 and never made it to the food court or resort restaurant. Maya Grill is probably our most cancelled ADR of all time. The opening of Gran Destino Tower also means that we have Toledo right on our doorstep. Not to mention Rix Sports Bar & Grill whose menu we have been hankering over since they opened. AND there’s the new Three Bridges Bar & Grill lounge. 4. No snack credits on soft drinks or water. This is a controversial one as I don’t usually mind this but I feel we’ve been falling short in the snack department in previous years. Edited at 09:58 PM. |
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22 Sep 19, 02:06 PM |
#2
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
Join Date: Oct 11
Location: Dundee
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The ADRs
It would be a fair to say that last years’ experience left us feeling a little jaded by Disney Table Service dining, so I was keen to freshen things up this year and visit lots of new places alongside places we haven’t visited for a few years. Nik asked if that meant we were going back to The Diamond Horseshoe. Absolutely not. It was tough to leave out some trusted old friends – Sci-Fi, Mama Melrose, Narcoossee’s and Citricos had to bite the dust to make way for some potential new favourites. Near misses were Boatwright’s Dining Hall, Frontera Cocina, Nine Dragons, STK Orlando, The Edison and Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill. I really wanted to spend a lot more time dining at Disney Springs as it’s full of untapped potential for us but with a shorter trip this year I couldn’t justify sacrificing so much park time to make it happen. There’s also a distinct lack of resort dining, you’d think this would be due to not having a car but it’s actually because I’ve focussed on maximising the park time we have. Here’s our ADR list, the ones marked with an asterisk are our ‘Unfinished Business’ cancelled ADRs from last year. - 1900 Park Fare - 50’s Prime Time Café - Akershus* - Boma – Flavors of Africa * - Calfornia Grill - Chef de France * - Cinderella’s Royal Table - Crystal Palace* - The Garden Grill - The Hollywood Brown Derby - House of Blues - Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen – NEW * - Kona Cafe - La Hacienda de San Angel - NEW - Le Cellier Steakhouse * - Liberty Tree Tavern * - Maya Grill - NEW - Monsieur Paul – NEW - The Plaza Restaurant - Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant * - Restaurant Marrakesh – NEW - Rix Sports Bar & Grill – NEW - Tiffins - Tony’s Town Square - Trattoria al Forno* - Tusker House - Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria * - Yachtsman Steakhouse - Yak & Yeti Restaurant * |
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22 Sep 19, 02:19 PM |
#3
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Guest
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Looking forward to it, many of those restaurants would be in my choices.
When I get home, I am going to compare whee we ate with the restaurants on my planning spreadsheet. I am not sure any are exactly where I planned them. One I thought would not budge is Storybook Dining, however we are checking out of Wilderness Lodge today (unplanned) and so have decided to not bother with it, I usually like to eat where I am staying. |
22 Sep 19, 02:47 PM |
#4
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VIP Dibber
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Wow, that's a lot of food! If you're eating all of that, will you have any room left for snacks? You'd have to roll me home, but looking forward to seeing how you get on
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POFQ: Our 'once in a lifetime' trip, 31.10 - 14.11.12 SSR: 40th birthday trip, 02 - 16.01.14 SSR 2 bed villa: my mums first trip, 07 - 21.02.15 POR: An unexpected Easter break, 02 - 15.04.16 CBR: Another unexpected Easter trip, 29.03 - 12.04.17 CBR: 18th birthday surprise trip, 21.10 - 4.11.19 CBR & CBBR 3 week WDW & US, 05 - 27.09.22 Easter QSDP food report April 17 2nd Easter QSDP food report, Oct 19 |
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22 Sep 19, 02:55 PM |
#5
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
Join Date: Oct 11
Location: Dundee
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Do you think you've missed a lot places you want to eat? It's been nice to see how impromptu things have been for you OOP.
I'd have been interested on your take on Storybook Dining, as it happens, it's the only ADR I have never seen pop up as available when I've been tinkering. Wait until you see the snack list |
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22 Sep 19, 04:07 PM |
#6
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Guest
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Well I have moved some ADRs to different days. I have so far cancelled Boma, 1900 Park Fare, CG, Shulahs, Storybook Dining and Sci Fi Dine in. The later I would like to rebook, I only cancelled as the original time doesn’t suit any more - I have replanned some days due to it being so hot between about 1pm to 5pm.
I am a bit disappointed about Storybook Dining, but we are leaving WL primarily because the transport has been so bad, so I am not coming back! I never saw any availability for it much after my 180 days, however whilst I have been here I have seen it come up for a last minute booking a few times. |
22 Sep 19, 03:46 PM |
#7
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GEORGE
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Really looking forward to reading I’m a great fan of saying qsdp but knowing full well it would be an upgrade! Watch what I say when we go again in 2021
I hope no issues with Thomas Cook
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THE CHRONICLES OF FATTY 2012-2022 ALL MY FOOD REPORTS ALL IN ONE PLACE 2012-2019 Trip Reports gjdjud76 on instagram DOUBLE TROUBLE IN THE DISNEY AND UNIVERSAL BUBBLE 22 NIGHTS AUGUST 2022 TRIP INDEX FATTY’S SYMPHONY NO.5 FATTY’S AUGUST(US) GLOOP OFFSITE/ONSITE 22nights FOOD REPORT. NOW LIVE! |
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22 Sep 19, 04:36 PM |
#8
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VIP Dibber
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Not long now! Fingers crossed everything works out ok for you and you can tackle that list!
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5 Nov 19, 12:13 AM |
#9
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VIP Dibber
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Just catching up..
Your burger at Yak and Yeti sounds great, can't beat a bit of cheese to finish it off though. I have to be honest and say I'm not a fan of the won tons in there either although they get loads of love. Maya Grill looked good, very similar to some of the dishes at Hacienda San Angel, always nice to just stroll home after eating loads of good food. Man, $150 for CRT and just a tiny breakfast for Nik... Glad you enjoyed your breakfast there though. I always find set breakfast menus a bit tricky as I don't eat eggs. I do like the idea of eating in the castle though, maybe one day. I can't say I was overy impressed with BOG for lunch, I like the breakfast but only on the dining plan. So glad the Yachtsman worked out well for you, those rolls are amazing and your starters looked superb, that charcuterie . This was one of the standouts of our holiday. What a palaver with the magic bands, I do think Disney have gotten to the stage of giving those that scream and shout everything yet those who are rational have to wait to get things resolved. Having a negative experience at a resort can really put you off, I'm not sure Pop Century would be on my list again after the power washing wake up call at Easter. Shame about Le Cellier not living up to your expectations and Crystal Palace looks a poor show. Glad you enjoyed the Red's Revenge, I loved that.
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Rescuers Reports Lots of food and trip reports |
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5 Nov 19, 12:27 AM |
#10
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
Join Date: Oct 11
Location: Dundee
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You’re right about La Hacienda being similar to Maya Grill, we ended up cancelling it in the end due to this. Poor La Hacienda, always an ‘almost’ for us. I REALLY want to eat at Frontera Cocina but we booked and cancelled this about 10 times whilst we were there as again the menu was too samey. Actually, that isn't fair, the menu was quite extensive, but our choices would be too samey.
I’d say do CRT on DDP or not at all. There were some good menu options for non-egg eaters haha, the shrimp & grits and French Toast sounded really good to me. I was pleased to see a stuffed French toast that wasn’t banana. I think Yachtsman is a solid choice now. I’m not sure if we’ll go next year as we’ll be dining plan free when we’re at the Boardwalk and are hoping to give Shula’s a bash. Thank you for reading! |
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