Our DVC dinning Trip! VERY LONG

[SCDizneyDawn]

We are back from an excelent trip with too much food! We really enjoyed the dinning plan and are VERY glad DVC added it and hope they will continue to offer it!

DISNEY DINING PLAN BREAKDOWN

Thursday 4/27/06
1 snack - $2.65
2 counter service (lunch at Tangerine Café, EPCOT) - $37.00
2 table service (dinner at Alfredo’s, EPCOT) - $110.15
Lunch at the tangerine café was a great meal. I had the platter with just lamb and DH had the platter with both lamb and chicken. The only choice (as previously reported) for desert was baklava. Wish we had eaten here twice instead of one of the 2 burger places.
Dinner at Alfredo’s was also wonderful. For appetizers we had calamari and tomato and mozzarella stack. For entrees Brian had the steak entree and I had the pasta trio but substituted the fettuccini alfredo for the dumplings. Both were great and I mostly ate the lasagna and took the other 2 pastas with me. For dessert we had the canolli and tiramisu which were wonderful.


Friday 4/28/06
2 snacks - $5.30
1 counter service (lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express) - $16.13
2 table service (dinner at Kona Café, Polynesian) - $96.03

DH went off site to see his mother today so I had lunch alone at Wolfgang Puck Express. I had the 4 cheese pizza and the Crème brulee for dessert, both were so good we returned two more times to have the same thing!

Dinner at Kona Café was also a great meal. We split the sticky wings and a salad for appetizers. We both had the Shrimp and Scallops for entrees and for dessert I had the macadamia nut tart which no longer comes with the coconut ice cream it used to be served with. This was a MAJOR disappointment for me, as I had been craving it for a while. DH had the Happiest Celebration on Earth desert here, he enjoyed that!

Saturday 4/29/06
0 Snacks
2 counter service (dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express) - $32.27
2 table service (lunch at Coral Reef, EPCOT) - $88.82

We had friends arriving this evening so we made lunch reservations instead of dinner ones. Lunch here was interesting because I was allowed to order a 3 course meal as my entree and still get my appetizer and dessert separate from the ones included on the 3 course meal. So, I had the lobster soup and the calamari (not as good as the calamari in Italy), DH had the lobster soup also. For entrees mine came with a shrimp and baked potato meal that I pictured as a shrimp entrée with a bake potato on the side, but the shrimp was in a sauce on top of the potato. It was good, just not what I was picturing! DH had the barbeque salmon sandwich for an entrée which he LOVED and we both had the chocolate wave for dessert and I took the cheesecake included in my 3 course meal with us. I only wish I had thought to ask for the cheesecake with out the sauce. I tried it for breakfast the next day and did not care for the sauce, but was unsure if that was because it had sat overnight in the fridge. The chocolate waves were great!

Sunday 4/30/06
2 snacks - $7.42
2 counter service (lunch at Electric Umbrella, EPCOT) - $24.44
2 table service (dinner at Concourse Steakhouse, Contemporary) - $112.59

I really wanted a burger and the line at Hurricane Hanna’s was VERY long and did not move the 5 min we stood in it, so off to Electric Umbrella. The burgers were good, but not awesome, the fries were included so this was a much better deal than Hurricane Hanna’s turned out to be latter in the week. We had the double burgers with fries.

Dinner at the Concourse Steakhouse was one of our top meals. We started with a scallop appetizer and the wings and quickly realized we should have gotten two of the scallop appetizers! The wings were good, but not as great as the wings at Kona. We both had the filet which was INCREDIBLE. The desserts here were the best all week. DH had the Crème Brulee and I had the Key Lime Pie tart. They were way and by far my favorites.

Monday 5/1/06
1 snack - $4.04
2 counter service (lunch at Pizzafari, Animal Kingdom) - $25.08
2 table service (dinner at 50’s Prime Time, MGM) - $65.27

Lunch at Pizzafari was unmemorable. I had the Hot Italian Style Sandwich and DH had the Chicken Parm sandwich. For dessert we both had the Chocolate cake which DH liked and I though was a bit dry. Instead I had a waffle cone with ice cream over by EE as a snack.

Dinner at 50’s PT was picked because it was EMH that night and I wanted to eat and then enjoy the EMH. We had the onion rings and fried borsin cheese for appetizers. The Onion Rings were AWSOME and wished we had gotten two of them instead of the cheese. For Entrees we got and shared the meatloaf and fried chicken. The entrees were not as large as I have remembered, or have I just gotten used to eating LARGE quantities of food??!! For dessert we had the angel food cake with berries which DH LOVED and the s’mores which were great as always.

Tuesday 5/2/06
0 snacks
2 counter service (lunch at Hurricane Hanna’s, Beach Club) - $22.74
2 table service (dinner at Le Cellier, EPCOT) - $125.65

The burgers from Hurricane Hanna’s were not that great and I had to pay out of pocket for my fries. We each had a Mickey bar for dessert.

Dinner was of course an awesome meal. I had the cheese sampler for an appetizer and it was out of this world for this cheese lover. DH had the grilled beef tenderloin kabob and this was only alright, wishes he had gotten the cheese soup.
Our entrees were the two filets on the menu. I had the Mushroom Filet and DH had the filet with barbeque sauce. They were both excellent. For dessert I had the Maple Crème brulee but I did not enjoy this as much as the other two Crème brulee we had during the week (Concourse Steakhouse and Wolfgang Puck Express) DH had the chocolate cake to go and said it made and excellent breakfast the next morning!




Wednesday, 5/3/06
6 snacks - $22.26
1 counter service – (lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express) - $16.13

We had the same as on the prior trips to WPE! The 6 snacks were out of the case in the Beach Club Marketplace, 2 chocolate covered marshmallows, 2 rice crispy treats and 2 bars that had chocolate and coconut in them.


Totals

12 snacks - $41.67
12 counter service - $173.79
12 table service - $598.51

Total cost of dining plan for 2 - $455.88

What the food would have cost without the dining plan - $813.97

Total savings - $358.09 or 44%

 

[bicker]

Great report... what would be interesting is if you can go back through and separate out what you would have ordered anyway, even if you were paying OOP for everything, versus what you ordered solely because you were on the DP.... that might be very interesting information....

 

[cdntourguide]

Really good review.
I especially like the "would rather of had the_____" comments.

 

[***tink386]

Thanks for the great breakdown!! We will be using the Dining Plan in Sept and are really looking forward to it

 

[andriade]

Thanks for the wonderful info. We are using the DVC dining plan in Dec. and are very excited. We always start our meals with a salad and usually order one and share. This was great because I now can order other appetizers too. Dh and I can share the salad and split another app. I am also excited to try all of the desserts you mentioned. The chocolate cake you mentioned from LC sounds YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY!

I hope the rest of your trip was great too!

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

Great report... what would be interesting is if you can go back through and separate out what you would have ordered anyway, even if you were paying OOP for everything, versus what you ordered solely because you were on the DP.... that might be very interesting information....

The things I can think of off the top of my head with out spending hours pouring over the menus are:
at Kona we got EXACTLY what we would have if we had ordered on our own money, we shared the sticky wings and the shrimp and scallops entree last yr and I swore we would not share them this yr. DH ate some of the wings, but not half because he was enjoying his salad.

At the counter service places I most likely would have never ordered a single dessert. I never have in the past, so cannot imagine we would have this trip.

In Le Cellier, we both would have had the cheese soup, but I would have missed the AWSOME cheese appetizer I had, but would most likely never had ordered at $13. I may or may not order it in the future at that price if I am paying out of pocket, that is a lot for an appetizer.


Last year we ordered almost exactly the same things in Italy, but I was planning to order the steak this time because I LOVED DH's last year, only to find they changed the steak before our arrival. So, I would have ordered a more expensive entree than I did, cash or not, had it been available.

The two meals we would not have eaten with out the plan are Concourse Steakhouse and our lunch at the Coral Reef. So, that is money we would have spent on counter service instead of sit down. The other 4 reservations were made prior to our decision to add the plan as they are favorites of ours, and all are places we ate in last year with out the dinning plan.

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

I hope the rest of your trip was great too!

Yes, the entire trip was wonderful, we relaxed a lot, ate a lot and rode only a few rides. I think I only rode 10 rides during our entire trip. Love the pool at the BC!

 

[tinkerbeth]

Thanks for the great report. Can't wait to use the DDP in August. I think using it once will have me hooked. Especially since it will be free! We have always used APs before but I think this might change all that...that food sounds great.

Beth

 

[donaldtutter]

Terrific reviews! I love the great detail! Thank you!

 

[jjohnson]

Thank you for the reviews. We're there any restrictions when ordering at WPE? I've read conflicting information.

 

[abk96]

Thanks for the reviews. We were there the same time you were and ate at Alfredo's the night after you did.

Did you have to show your dining cards to the server before you were seated? We did and it was very strange. And I noticed that you were able to get any dessert. Our server told us we could have mousse or share the sampler, that's it. Then when we questioned it she came back and said ok we can have whatever we want.

I quess it's really who you get as a server.

Glad you enjoyed your DVC dining trip. We are using it again in Sept. with DVC.

 

[DisneycrazedX6]

Great report!!! You ate at alot of the restaurants that I plan on eating at in August. I think I will go with some of your choices, they sure sounded goooooooood!!!!

Thanks for the report!!!

 

[Princess4Eeyore]

Fantastic report .. loved reading it! Thank you - also looking forward to Konas. THANK YOU!

 

[schatterjee]

Great reviews and breakdowns - loved reading them!

 

[Tidus]

Thanks for the great reviews! Do you think that they offered a lot of choices for lunch at Coral Reef? I have dinner ADR's, but I'm considering changing to lunch. I'm just curious if they offer a good lunch menu?

 

[anny_c_99]

Wow! Great reviews. We have the dining plan for the end of May, and have ADR's for alot of the places you ate at...We can't wait to try them.

Thanks for the input.

 

[HalfDozen]

Looking forward to Wolfgang Puck's Express even more now!

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

Thank you for the reviews. We're there any restrictions when ordering at WPE? I've read conflicting information.

We were told we could not order the ravioli or the meatloaf at WPE, but no other restrictions. I had the Creme Brulee 3 times and DH had it 2 times, so that was not just dependent on who took the order. Did not ask about beverages because we wanted sodas.

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

Thanks for the great reviews! Do you think that they offered a lot of choices for lunch at Coral Reef? I have dinner ADR's, but I'm considering changing to lunch. I'm just curious if they offer a good lunch menu?

I do think the dinner menu had more to offer. Wished we could have eaten dinner here, but we had friends arriving and wanted to be at the resort when they arrived. You could always look over the menus on Deb's site.

 

[bicker]

There is definitely a big difference between the lunch and dinner menus at Coral Reef. I was reconsidering our trip to Coral Reef, but the I realized that I'm reading reviews of lunch, and I'll be going for dinner.