Carrie Ellis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2004
Ok, I hope I can help someone. I just did not have time on our trip to take pictures and record everything so I am just going by memory! Sorry
It was:
Me (child at heart), husband (36), twin sons (9), twin boy/girl (6), grandma and grandpa.
We were on the dining plan. So 4 adults and 4 children for 8 nights
We arrived at the Caribbean resort on Saturday, Dec. 2nd. We shared some counter meals at the resort dining. We used about 5 counter credits. Food was the usual!
1) That evening we had reservation at Ohanas. We arrived at the Polynesian Resort about an hour early to look around. I really thought it would be more Christmasy. It was beautiful, though. Ohanas was very good and it was sooooooo much food. The games were fun. The only complaint I would have is the turkey was dry. The beef was the best. None of us cared for the sausage either. But everything else was delish! We used 8 table services.
Day 1 was our day at Animal Kingdom. It was very warm outside. We had a grand gathering Safari and meal that evening. We ate at Flame tree barbecue for lunch. It is always good food. Not Texas barbecue but good~ We used 7 counter services. Mom and I shared and glad we did!
1) That evening was the grandgathering event. I will elaborate more if anyone is interested! It was fun but on the safari most of the animals had gone in. That was disappointing to me. The food was wonderful and very gutfuls! They let us take whatever desserts were left on our table home (or hotel ha!). This event took 16 table credits.
Day 2 was a day at Epcot. For lunch we had a counter service at the Electric Umbrella. Everyone really liked the hamburgers here! They had a smoke flavor! Hope that was on purpose! Ha! We used 6 credits. My boys split a hamburger. Mom and I shared too.
1) For dinner we had reservations at Le Cellier for the candlelight package. I would never do this show any other way. The line for the non-package people was sooooooooooooo long! We ate at Le Cellier and it was wonderful. We all had steak and you could almost cut it w/ your fork! I would go here again in a heartbeat. We used 8 table credits (had to on the candlelight package)
Day 3 was our day for the MVMCP so we did not do any other park and just used our MVMCP tickets to get in at 4pm. We ate counter that night. While we waited for the parade (we staked a spot out early on mainstreet for the 10pm parade) a couple of us got Casey hotdogs for everyone. I used 8 counter services but I should have only used 7. It was too much food.
1) We used 8 table services for a late lunch at the Grand Floridian Café. This was one of our number 1 meals!!!! Very very good food! The boys French fries were homemade and so tasty!! I had planned this meal so we could see the Christmas decorations at GF plus take the monorail to the party. Funny that it ended up being the best meal!
Day 4 was a MGM day! We ate a counter meal at Backlot Express. This place was just ok. Nothing to write home about. We used 7 counter meals.
1) That evening we had reservations at Sci Fi. We did this restaurant last year and it was a favorite. This year I think we were a little disappointed. My mom and I got steak and it was not good. We also got the apple crisp that was not edible. We used 4 table credits here. I paid for the 4 kids meals.
Day 5 was another Epcot day. We stopped at the Land and ate desserts. Really good strawberry shortcake there! FYI. We had lunch outside of Mexico. It was not bad and we are all Texans! The boys split 1 meal, so we used only 7 counters here.
1) Our evening meal was at Coral Reef. We were on the 3rd tier and I really wished we were closer to the tank! It was awesome though. We all loved the food. My dad got the blackened catfish and it was awesome. The pepper jack grits that his catfish sat on was to die for!! We used 8 table credits here.
Day 6 was back to MGM! We ended up eating lunch at Toy story Pizza and we all thought it was very very good! We used 7 counters because mom and I split again. This park closed early that night and I had no idea. I guess it was decided the night before or that morning for Pop Warner. It was suppose to be open until 8pm. I had made reservations at AKL at Bomas but if we left we would not be able to see Fantasmic. I ran to each restaurant and I was able to get a 4:20pm reservation at Mama Melrose. All the others were booked. I thought this was very not nice of Disney. Even the CMs said that they were not aware that it was closing early until they got to work.
1) Anyway, Mama Melrose was good and not that busy. May be some decided not to stay since the park was closing early. We just were not that hungry so it did not knock me off my feet.
Day 7 was our last day at the parks. We headed to MK very early. I wanted to be there before opening but we got there at 9:05am! The park was very empty! I made reservations at noon for Tonys because I had booked the Grand gathering firework cruise for our grand finale that evening. We ate at Caseys that evening, again! But the crowds were sooooooo bad after 2pm. You could hardly walk! We left the park about 6:30pm.
1) Tonys was very good despite some reviews that I have read. The desserts were large and very good! I would book there again! Used 5 table credits and paid for 3 kids meals.
The firework cruise that evening was horrible. I will write about that soon.
Our departure day required using up the rest of the counter services! We ate breakfast and used 3 counters and paid OOP for the kids. We went to Downtown Disney for some final shopping so we ate the Earl of Sandwich w/ the rest of the credits which was 7!
We had 9 snack credits in the end. I ended up getting 9 mickey ear rice krispi treats dipped in chocolate. These made great teacher gifts and we gave one to a neighbor girl (with some mickey ears too).
We used a lot of snack credits for breakfast! We were able to get a box of Entenmanns sp? Donuts! Plus muffins and breads. We used a few counters for adult breakfasts too.
The meal plan can really be used successfully if you try. I think it is a wonderful deal and I hope it always is available in some form.
Any question I would love to answer!!
It was:
Me (child at heart), husband (36), twin sons (9), twin boy/girl (6), grandma and grandpa.
We were on the dining plan. So 4 adults and 4 children for 8 nights
We arrived at the Caribbean resort on Saturday, Dec. 2nd. We shared some counter meals at the resort dining. We used about 5 counter credits. Food was the usual!
1) That evening we had reservation at Ohanas. We arrived at the Polynesian Resort about an hour early to look around. I really thought it would be more Christmasy. It was beautiful, though. Ohanas was very good and it was sooooooo much food. The games were fun. The only complaint I would have is the turkey was dry. The beef was the best. None of us cared for the sausage either. But everything else was delish! We used 8 table services.
Day 1 was our day at Animal Kingdom. It was very warm outside. We had a grand gathering Safari and meal that evening. We ate at Flame tree barbecue for lunch. It is always good food. Not Texas barbecue but good~ We used 7 counter services. Mom and I shared and glad we did!
1) That evening was the grandgathering event. I will elaborate more if anyone is interested! It was fun but on the safari most of the animals had gone in. That was disappointing to me. The food was wonderful and very gutfuls! They let us take whatever desserts were left on our table home (or hotel ha!). This event took 16 table credits.
Day 2 was a day at Epcot. For lunch we had a counter service at the Electric Umbrella. Everyone really liked the hamburgers here! They had a smoke flavor! Hope that was on purpose! Ha! We used 6 credits. My boys split a hamburger. Mom and I shared too.
1) For dinner we had reservations at Le Cellier for the candlelight package. I would never do this show any other way. The line for the non-package people was sooooooooooooo long! We ate at Le Cellier and it was wonderful. We all had steak and you could almost cut it w/ your fork! I would go here again in a heartbeat. We used 8 table credits (had to on the candlelight package)
Day 3 was our day for the MVMCP so we did not do any other park and just used our MVMCP tickets to get in at 4pm. We ate counter that night. While we waited for the parade (we staked a spot out early on mainstreet for the 10pm parade) a couple of us got Casey hotdogs for everyone. I used 8 counter services but I should have only used 7. It was too much food.
1) We used 8 table services for a late lunch at the Grand Floridian Café. This was one of our number 1 meals!!!! Very very good food! The boys French fries were homemade and so tasty!! I had planned this meal so we could see the Christmas decorations at GF plus take the monorail to the party. Funny that it ended up being the best meal!
Day 4 was a MGM day! We ate a counter meal at Backlot Express. This place was just ok. Nothing to write home about. We used 7 counter meals.
1) That evening we had reservations at Sci Fi. We did this restaurant last year and it was a favorite. This year I think we were a little disappointed. My mom and I got steak and it was not good. We also got the apple crisp that was not edible. We used 4 table credits here. I paid for the 4 kids meals.
Day 5 was another Epcot day. We stopped at the Land and ate desserts. Really good strawberry shortcake there! FYI. We had lunch outside of Mexico. It was not bad and we are all Texans! The boys split 1 meal, so we used only 7 counters here.
1) Our evening meal was at Coral Reef. We were on the 3rd tier and I really wished we were closer to the tank! It was awesome though. We all loved the food. My dad got the blackened catfish and it was awesome. The pepper jack grits that his catfish sat on was to die for!! We used 8 table credits here.
Day 6 was back to MGM! We ended up eating lunch at Toy story Pizza and we all thought it was very very good! We used 7 counters because mom and I split again. This park closed early that night and I had no idea. I guess it was decided the night before or that morning for Pop Warner. It was suppose to be open until 8pm. I had made reservations at AKL at Bomas but if we left we would not be able to see Fantasmic. I ran to each restaurant and I was able to get a 4:20pm reservation at Mama Melrose. All the others were booked. I thought this was very not nice of Disney. Even the CMs said that they were not aware that it was closing early until they got to work.
1) Anyway, Mama Melrose was good and not that busy. May be some decided not to stay since the park was closing early. We just were not that hungry so it did not knock me off my feet.
Day 7 was our last day at the parks. We headed to MK very early. I wanted to be there before opening but we got there at 9:05am! The park was very empty! I made reservations at noon for Tonys because I had booked the Grand gathering firework cruise for our grand finale that evening. We ate at Caseys that evening, again! But the crowds were sooooooo bad after 2pm. You could hardly walk! We left the park about 6:30pm.
1) Tonys was very good despite some reviews that I have read. The desserts were large and very good! I would book there again! Used 5 table credits and paid for 3 kids meals.
The firework cruise that evening was horrible. I will write about that soon.
Our departure day required using up the rest of the counter services! We ate breakfast and used 3 counters and paid OOP for the kids. We went to Downtown Disney for some final shopping so we ate the Earl of Sandwich w/ the rest of the credits which was 7!
We had 9 snack credits in the end. I ended up getting 9 mickey ear rice krispi treats dipped in chocolate. These made great teacher gifts and we gave one to a neighbor girl (with some mickey ears too).
We used a lot of snack credits for breakfast! We were able to get a box of Entenmanns sp? Donuts! Plus muffins and breads. We used a few counters for adult breakfasts too.
The meal plan can really be used successfully if you try. I think it is a wonderful deal and I hope it always is available in some form.
Any question I would love to answer!!
